One By One
by Dextris
Summary: Naruto and His friends are assigned a school project for their drama class. They decide to film in an abandon manision and find things that they weren't looking for.
1. Chapter 1

Naruto's eyes stared forward. His tan skin was itchy from the once crimson color that was splattered all over him. His lips were chapped and his hair a mess. The siren that was wailing in the background seemed to just be an ambient noise ringing in his ears. His face was illuminated by the bright and hot embers that flared before him. The blue blanket that had been wrapped around his shoulders was only making him hotter than he already was, but he held no means of removing it. The crackling from the roaring flames seemed to taunt him, the red embers making pictures in his mind of the recent events.

Cops were standing everywhere, firefighters spraying the building, trying to contain the spreading flames. The sides of the burning mansion started to flick off, ready to cave into the flames at any given moment. Two cops were talking amongst themselves, behind Naruto, stress held openly in their voices. "Shit, if it's not one sick bastard, it's another..." One chunkier cop sighed out, scratching the balding area on top of his head. The younger and leaner cop stood beside him, his face tired and worn out.

"I guess this explains what happened to that missing teenage boy..." He shook his head and kicked the dirt. He looked over at Naruto, his tortured appearance almost frightening. "Poor kid...I could only imagine what he went through..."

The larger cop exhaled a deep breath, his eyes landing on the blonde teen sitting on the curb. "Yeah..." He spit at the ground, thumbs laced behind his belt. "I've seen some pretty sick shit, but this one tops it by far..."

Naruto's eyes were blank and lost. His mind was foggy and confused. Every time someone had tried to talk to him, he couldn't understand what it was they were saying. Purple bags hung from under his eyes, his nails were dirty and hands covered in thick and uncomfortable blood. He occasionally felt a burning liquid flow from his eyes, but never paid attention to it, or anything else for that matter. The conversations that were being held around him were nothing but mumbles to him. He wanted to just go home, go and crawl into his bed, let his body rest, let his mind straighten things out and pull him into a black slumber. He didn't want to be awake any longer; he didn't want to have the time to think about everything that had happened to him over the past hours. Naruto blinked, his eyes burning, and stared back into the fire. It was almost as if he could see their faces, screaming at him through the flames. Every one of them yelling for their savior, only to be ignored. Naruto wished he could've gone back in there and rescued them all himself, but he knew better than that, he knew that his efforts would be useless.

Naruto then turned his neck for the first time to see the only other survivor. They sat there in a similar state of emptiness as him. He wanted to get up and walk over to them but his body just wouldn't move, his mind didn't even seem to understand the thought process. The two cops from behind him stepped forward, standing in front of Naruto with pity on their faces. Naruto turned his attention to them, noticing the skinnier of the two held onto a half-burnt video recorder. The older cop cleared his throat and talked softly. "I hate to ask this of you so soon but..." He ran his hand over his scalp and sighed. "We need you to tell us what happened here. The things that weren't on the tape..."

Naruto looked away from them, his eyes landing on the ground. He opened his mouth only slightly and then licked his lips. His blue eyes looked back up at the cops, his throat dry and scratchy. "...It was just for a school project..."

Chapter 1: 5 Out Of 5

Naruto yawned quietly, stretching out his legs in his small desk. His teacher was ranting on about the useless points of the school project that was about to assigned to them. He didn't care about the details of the film project; they had done a lot before in the past, it was the same thing every time, just a new theme. The theme this time would be the one he had been anticipating since he signed up for the class. He had a story already set in his mind; the only thing that could ruin it would be the people that he got partnered up with. There were a few people in the class that would probably call his idea 'dumb' and then try to take over the project with their own lame idea. Naruto hoped that it wouldn't come down to that, he didn't want to have a failing grade because of someone else.

He stared forward at the teacher as she passed out the rubric for the assignment. After she finished walking around the classroom, she'd announce the groups. Naruto wished she would just let everyone pick their own groups, but because it was an acting class, she found it vital to make sure everyone got to feel uncomfortable around an unknown person. Naruto accepted the paper from his teacher and second naturedly wrote his name up at the top. After he set his pencil down, his teacher was making her way to the front of the classroom. Naruto bit his lip in anticipation. She set the extra papers down on her desk and then picked up her clip board with the groups listed on it. "Alright, I tried to make this as even as possible, the majority of you will be placed in groups of six, two groups will have five members. The groups are as follows; Group one will be..." She turned to the chalkboard and began writing the names on the board. Naruto scanned the list, his name not appearing anywhere. She read aloud the next group and then wrote that list on the board afterwards. Again Naruto hadn't been listed off. He looked around the classroom at the kids left and sighed. He knew he wasn't going to like his group. "Group four will be, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto's eyes jolted to the front of the class. His heart just dropped to the bottom of his stomach. No way had he just been paired with _him._ Not _him._ Sasuke was nothing but a pig, chasing after girls every second of the day. There was no way Naruto would be able to get the project done with him in the group. "Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and last but not least, Sakura Haruno." Naruto groaned to himself. The best project had just been wasted with this group. Shikamaru was okay, in a weird kind of way. He never seemed to like anyone, and had a creepy kind of aura like he'd murder you when you turned your back. Ino was a little bit too nice to him and Sakura...

Naruto looked over at the pink haired girl and saw her batting her eyelids at the one and only! Naruto looked over at Sasuke and rolled his eyes at the way he flirted with the girl. The teacher finished off the list and then set her clip board down. "Now seeing as how this will be another film type deal, you've got three weeks to get the video completed. Today you'll be working on your script with your group. I want at least a plot or some characters turned in by the end of the hour. If you've got any kind of questions, don't hesitate to ask. If you have to think about something being in appropriate for the steps I've given you, you probably shouldn't use it." She smiled slightly and then sighed. "Well then, Get to work."

Naruto looked up at the class and saw it come to life with movement. He looked for the members of his group to see where exactly they'd be moving. Sure enough, Sakura had already begun to make her way over to Sasuke's desk. She pulled a desk into his and sat as close as she could to him with the metal in the way. Ino had begun to pick up her things and was walking over towards Naruto, his desk being on the way to Sasuke's. She stopped at his desk and looked down at him smiling. "At least I like someone in the group..." She said, and then turned her attention towards Sakura. Naruto sighed and then picked up his things and walked over to the two with Ino. Sakura didn't even bother to look up when they approached. Sasuke watched as Naruto and Ino pulled the desks together. Shikamaru was the last one to join them, and when he did, Sasuke watched him with a look of border-line disgust on his face. Naruto decided to ignore it, as well as everyone else. He pulled out his rubric and a notebook and layed them on his desk.

"Alright, so what do we want the script to be about?" He asked dully.

Sasuke looked over at him and smiled. "How about we do something about a weird kid shooting up a school?"

Naruto shot him a look knowing he was talking about Shikamaru. Shikamaru didn't seem to catch the insult, too busy staring at the texture of the desk to notice. Ino sighed and tried to throw an opinion of her own out there.

"What if we do a kind of murder-mystery type thing?"

Naruto exhaled a deep breath. "That's so original though..." Ino shrugged.

Sasuke looked over at Sakura and then ran his hand through her hair, twirling a strand around his finger. "Too bad we can't go back to the Romance project." Sakura bit her lip, flustered by the statement.

Naruto looked over at Ino and shook his head. He was going to have to put up with _this_ for three weeks? Shikamaru stared down at the desk, his face appearing zoned out. Sakura looked away from Sasuke for the first time that Naruto could ever recall and gave her own opinion. "What if we do a monster kind of deal? Like a huge dinosaur killing an entire city or something?"

"You mean Godzilla? They already made that sweetie." Ino said in a motherly-mocked tone. "Besides, we don't have that kind of equipment to make something with monsters. Unless you'd like to wear a hot and nasty mascot uniform." Sakura rolled her eyes and then turned her focus back to Sasuke. Ino looked at Naruto. "What about you? You got any ideas?"

Naruto bit his lip. Now that Ino said it, his idea would be kind of hard to pull off with amateur equipment. He decided to throw a different idea out there, figuring his wouldn't have worked out. "Well, I thought we could do something about a haunting or whatever. Like a group of kids decide to investigate an old ghost story, and it turns out to be true or something like that." Ino looked at the rest of the group to see their reactions.

Sakura didn't pay attention or Shikamaru for that matter. Sasuke shrugged his shoulder. "Why not? We could go and investigate that one story about the lady with all of the dolls, only for us all to be murdered because we screamed."

Ino rolled her eyes. "You stole that from a movie." Sasuke smirked.

"Really? Someone already beat us to it? Damn, that was such a good idea too. Ghost stories are always so thrilling!" He said sarcastically. Naruto shook his head. Man, he was an asshole.

"It's better than a shoot up at a school." Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke laughed. "Was that supposed to be a comeback?" Sakura was smiling with him. Naruto began to grit his teeth. There was no way that he could survive with this dick head. His better conscious decided to keep away from fighting.

"No, not at all. Just an opinion. We all gave our suggestions, and no one liked any of them, so why don't we actually think of something that's slightly interesting?"

Ino jumped in before Sasuke had time to say what he wanted to say. "Well, not everyone gave their opinion." She said turning to Shikamaru. "You got any ideas?"

Shikamaru looked away from the table and at the group. Sasuke laughed again. "Yeah, why not ask him? He's got to have something scary up in that skull of his." Shikamaru looked over at Sasuke and smirked.

"Nothing that's school appropriate." He said. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him. He looked over at Naruto and smiled slightly. "What I was thinking, was that we _do_ do some kind of investigation."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Didn't we just go through this?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, we just said that we didn't want to do a boring ghost story investigati-"

"No, listen. Instead of writing a script, we should just go and record us 'investigating'. We find us a creepy lookin' house or graveyard; even just some random ghost story would work. Pack some things and stay there for a night and record what happens. That way, whatever we get scared of is actually real, and not some cheesy high-pitched screaming at something pathetic." Shikamaru finished. All eyes were on him. Sasuke was the first to respond.

"What?" He said in a laugh. "You really are fucked up in the head, aren't you?'Let's go and run around filming us paranoid about something that probably isn't even true and turn it in as an assignment!' That's a great idea!" Sasuke mocked.

Naruto bit his lip. "No, wait a minute...That could actually be a good idea..."

"What!?" Sasuke borderline yelled. "Are you serious? How would that work?"

Naruto thought about it a minute. "If we could find a good story that's scary enough, and can easily trick the human eye, all we'd have to do is go to the sight and film what happens to us there. If we're paranoid, then the audience will start to feel that paranoia too, and if we're not faking it, it makes them even more paranoid. They could see something like a moving curtain and easily mistake it for a person's silhouette and be just as scared as us."

Ino nodded. "Yeah, and plus, after we got recorded what we need, we could go and do our own recording to put a plot to it, or even just add music at the right part that'll make people jump."

Sakura stared at Ino. "Well, that sounds fun and all but where exactly would we be filming this?"

The group went quiet. Sasuke looked at the group and then threw his hand against the table. "You guys seriously want to do _this_?" Ino and Naruto both nodded. Sakura shrugged, trying to show that it didn't interest her. Sasuke sighed.

Shikamaru bit his lip before talking. "I know a place we could go..."

"Fuck no!" Sasuke yelled staring upward at the fern covered, old abandoned mansion. "There is no way in hell I'm going in there!" Naruto shook his head and began walking towards the old black metal gate.

"What? Is Sasuke Uchiha actually afraid to go inside?" Naruto taunted. "The Amazing Uchiha is afraid to enter an old abandoned house. Wouldn't the school love to hear about that?" Naruto gripped onto the bars and began to pull himself up, pressing his feet against the metal to support himself.

Sasuke was easily irritated. "I'm not scared to go inside. This is trespassing you know! How stupid would it be to record us filming in the old mansion that's _clearly_ off-bounds to civilians?"

"You make it sound like they're monsters that live here..." Ino mumbled, infatuated with the Victorian design. She stepped forward, following Naruto to the gates. Shikamaru followed afterwards, already recording on his camera. "Besides, Shikamaru got permission from the city to let us film here."

Sasuke shook his head, following them towards the gates, Sakura tailing behind him.

Naruto landed softly on the other side of the gate and began to undo the chains around the black bars. They were oddly easy to undo and seemed like they had been messed with once before. He opened it and then allowed the group to step in. Sakura followed close to Sasuke, clearly scared to be there. She looked around at all of the over grown bushes and shrubs and felt a chill run up her back. Her eyes skipped over the fountain that was hidden under vines and went straight to a window on the fourth floor of the mansion. The bright green of her iris was immediately met with the eyes of another before she blinked. When her eyes met with the window again, all she found was the curtain moving slightly. She immediately shook it from her mind and stepped closer to Sasuke, grabbing onto his arm.

Sasuke looked down at Sakura and smirked. "Are you already scared?" He asked.

Sakura hesitated before answering. "I... I thought there was someone in the window..." She mumbled.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You're letting their stupid stories get to you. This place has been abandon for years, there's no way anyone could be living here. You were probably just imagining it." Sakura looked up at him, ready to argue against him, but decided against it. He was probably right anyways. It's not like anyone would want to live here in the first place.

Ino decided to strike up a conversation. "Hey, did you guys hear anything on that kid that went missing from our school?"

Sasuke was immediately intrigued. "You mean that Kiba guy? Didn't they say he just disappeared out of nowhere?"

Naruto stopped walking through the large parking area that circled the fountain. He felt his heart drop a little when Sasuke said the name. Sakura perked up. "Yeah, they said he was on his way home from school before he vanished."

"That's so odd..." Ino mumbled, taking in all of the detail from the old building. "They can't find any suspects either can they? His family was out of town when it happened, and there are not that many people that I know that dislike him. I mean, I never knew him personally, but from what I heard, he wasn't mean or anything."

Shikamaru decided to ignore the entire conversation and focused on the creepy detail of the old house. He held the camera steady and slowly scanned it over the large front yard. Even though it was only around 4 o'clock and the sun was bright in the sky, the place held a dark aura to it. All of the overgrown plants had put a permanent shadow over the place, making it feel much later in the day than it really was.

Shikamaru then scanned the camera over the 'cast', passing up the slowly moving Naruto and holding it steady on Ino's back. He stared at her dark blue back pack that carried all of her essential goods for the night that they'd be staying in the mansion. His eyes traveled down her long and smooth looking legs, having the urge to run his hand along them. Shikamaru couldn't help himself when it came to Ino, she was the only girl that was ever nice to him, and even though he knew it was only out of kindness, he couldn't help but have a fetish for her. Shikamaru had always been picked on growing up, mainly because he didn't mind expressing his true self, but Ino seemed to point out how much easier his life could be when he remained 'simple.' Although, he never technically showed his true side to anyone, otherwise he'd find himself in a deeper mess than what he already dealt with.

He tore his eyes away from Ino, feeling that he was being watched by someone. Being in a group with Sasuke, he had to make sure he couldn't leave any openings for him to attack, especially when it came to Ino. How embarrassing would that be? Sasuke pointing out his constant lust for the only girl that would ever show any amount of sympathy towards him. Shikamaru shook his head, focusing on his main objective and holding the camera at the large and brown Victorian doors. The door knobs were a greenish kind of color from years of neglect ion, the large lion shaped door knockers matching in color, and tainted with rust.

Sasuke looked over at Naruto and quickly remembered something. "Hey, waitta minute," He began, staring at the blonde. "Didn't you used to hang out with that guy all the time?"

Naruto stopped in his tracks and swallowed a lump in his throat. He was actually the last person to have talked to Kiba before he went missing. The cops had questioned him for days before they decided that Naruto wasn't the main suspect. He hesitated before answering "Y-yeah..." He mumbled.

Sasuke laughed slightly. "Well, shit, there's your suspect right here! Probably got jealous that Kiba was actually sucking' someone else's dick and killed the guy, huh?" Naruto turned to face Sasuke, anger in his eyes. Sasuke wasn't the least bit intimidated. "Ooh, scary! Hey creeper! You filming this? I'm pretty sure that face would get some people jumping!" Naruto rolled his eyes and began walking towards the front gates again, trying his best to ignore him. Ino shot him a dirty look and then followed Naruto towards the door. Sasuke smirked. "What? You're not even gonna stick up for yourself? Talk about patheitc."

"What's pathetic is the fact that you can stand there and say all of that, knowing full well how you really feel about that subject." Shikamaru said, zooming in on the detail of the mansion. Sasuke looked at him like he had said something foreign. Shikamaru felt his gaze and turned to look at him. "You know what I'm talking about, I've seen the way you look at your 'certain someone'."

Sasuke's face immdiately tightened. Ino scrunched her eyebrows, not quite understanding what Shikamaru was saying. Naruto looked over his shoulder at him and raised an eyebrow. "Are you...calling him out?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Sorry buddy, but as much as you want me, you can only get me in your dreams."

"Too bad I'm not the one you're dreaming about," Shikamaru said, examining the tangled door knobs and vines. "You're forgetting who has clean up duty in the locker room. I heard you."

All eyes then fell on Sasuke. He immdiately felt his reputation threatened, slowly losing his composer. How had he known about that? Sasuke made sure that he had been alone when he was in the locker rooms, he double checked everything before he...

Sasuke felt his eyes land on Naruto for a split second. He quickly tore his gaze away when he saw the deep blue eyes staring back at him questionably. Sakura rolled her eyes, shaking Sasuke's arms. "What're you talking about?" She leaned in closer to Sasuke's face and placed her lips on his cheek. "Sasuke's with me, he's not thinking about someone else!"

Ino shook her head, deciding to drop the topic. "Let's just try to get along for a few seconds, okay?" She then turned and walked up towards Naruto and Shikamaru. Sakura seemed back to normal, clutching tightly onto Sasuke's arm. Sasuke stayed quiet, trying to rebuild his confidence. Caving in like that would only make what Shikamaru knew even more noticably true. He looked down at the ground before continuing forward with the group.

Naruto laced his thumbs behind the straps of his back-pack and watched as Shikamaru twisted the door knob, trying to get the door open. "I doubt it's gonna open that easily..." He mummbled.

Shikamaru ignored the comment and pushed on the door. When it didn't seem to move, he put more strength into it, budging the door only slightly. He tried one last time before pulling back. "How're we gonna get in now?"

Naruto bit his lip and looked at the door. "Well, it moved. Maybe if we pushed on it at the same time it might open?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Eh, wouldn't hurt to try..." Naruto pulled his bag off and set it on the ground, while Shikamaru handed the camera to Ino. Both of them placed their hands against the door and planted their feet to the ground. "Ready?"

Naruto nodded and at the same time they pushed against the door. Getting the door to move a few inches, they thought that they'd be able to get it open until it seemed to slam into something else with a 'thud'. Shikamaru pulled away and peered in through the small crack they managed to create. "There's something in the way..." He mummbled. Ino looked around at the front of the house to see if there was maybe a different way in. Naruto bit his lip.

"Maybe we can get in through the back?" He suggested. Sasuke stared around the corner and saw the dead bushes that tangled the back gates. Shikamaru took his camera back from Ino and sighed, dangling the camera by the bottom of the door, unawaringly. Naruto reached down and picked up his bag and then hung it back onto his shoulders. "There's bound to be a door wall or something of the sort. Maybe even an open window."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Guess so, and if we can't get in, we could always just do our back up script in the front-" Shikamaru was cut off by the loud creaking of the door. Everyone's eyes landed on the once blocked door that was now drifting open on its own. "...yard...?" Shikamaru finished in a mummble.

Sakura clutched tighter onto Sasuke, her pulse rate rising. She was instantly reminded of the eyes she had been met with just a few moments ago. "...S-should we really go in here...?"

Sakura's question was ignored when Shikamaru carefully stepped in. "Maybe it wasn't being blocked..." He took a quick look around, holding the camera close to him while scanning the room with it. He turned his head back to Naruto. "Flashlight." Naruto quickly flung his backpack infront of him and pulled out a black metal flashlight, handing it to Shikamaru and then pulling more out for the group. Shikamaru clicked his on and then looked into the house with it. There was a large double staircase towards the far end of the room that lead to the upper floors. The steps were long, curving upward into the next floor. In between the two staircases were two thick wooden doors that lead deeper into the mansion. The doors held a similar design to the front doors, excluding the marble lions that hung from the mid-center. Against the walls were two seated couches with a matching chair that was seperated by a wooden coffee table. There were white sheets thrown over the furniture, looking as if it hadn't been touched in ages. Shikamaru stepped into the mansion fully, looking at the entire wall itself. Towards the front of the walls were doors that most likely lead to other rooms or a downstairs hallway. There were pictures that hung on the walls of famous art pieces or most likely family members. The floor was checkered and marble, but covered in dust. The room itself was musty and had a stiff odor to it. It was oddly warm but didn't hold much of any light in the room. Shikamaru turned back to the front doors and looked over at what he thought might've been blocking the door, but didn't see anything. The ceiling was high with a large chandler hanging from above the staircase. Not finding anything out of the ordinary, he relaxed, turning back to the group. "Alright, everything seems okay. Let's do this." He stepped in, focusing the camera on the dusty enterance hall. Naruto was the first to step inside, followed by Ino. Sasuke hesitated before stepping forward. Sakura pulled back slightly, having the worst feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"...I don't want to do this..." She mummbled to herself. But despite her words, she stepped inside with Sasuke. Shikamaru stepped behind the two and shut the door, getting a good feel for how dark the rest of the house would be. Sakura looked back at him, wishing that he'd just leave it open. She turned forward and lumped her cheek against Sasuke's shoulder.

Naruto dug into his bag and pulled out a ziploc full of spare batteries. "These are for the flashlights. I don't know how long those current ones'll last, so I brought some spares." He passed out the extras for everyone to carry on themselves. "It's just incase we some how get seperated. I know I wouldn't want to walk around this place by myself and have my flashlight die on me."

"Good thinking..." Ino mummbled, putting hers into her bag. Shikamaru pulled the camera towards his face and focused it on Naruto.

"Aaaaaaaannnnddd, here we go!" He said, impersonating a spokesman. "Oversixteen hours in an abandoned mansion. Will everyone be able to survive? Stay tuned and see!" He finished with a grin.

Naruto shook his head. "Don't talk like that, it'll take the scary out of things."

Shikamaru turned the camera over to Sasuke and Sakura, his eyes immdiately catching onto Sakura's frightened appearence. He smirked when their eyes locked and she turned away. "Oh! I've got a game we can play! How about, who ever is the first person to scream, they have to go into a room by themselves for twenty minutes." Sakura clutched tightly onto Sasuke's arm, along with the flashlight. Her knuckles were white and her heart thumping loudly. She always hated anything scary, being easily frightened and just as easliy tricked by her mind, going inside the mansion was exactly what she didn't want to do.

"Glad you feel at home." Sasuke said, turning on his flashlight. He was aware of how scared Sakura already was and instead of feeling the need to protect her, he was getting rather annoyed by it. Sasuke ignored it though, knowing he couldn't be that much of an asshole to leave her feeling unprotected.

Shikamaru seemed oddly offened by the statement. Instead of saying anything back, he turned the camera towards Ino. She was making her way up the grand staircase, taking in every bit of detail about the room. "This place is gorgeous..." She said in a tranced manner. Shikamaru smiled slightly, wanting to agree with her, but kept his mouth shut. "It's hard to believe that anyone would want to leave this place..." She ran her hand along the railing of the stairs, feeling its every detail. "What exactly happened here again?" She asked, her eyes locking with Shikamaru's. Shikamaru looked away from her gaze and pretended as if he had just been following the curves of the railing with the camera.

He pulled the camera away from his face and went into the history of the house. "Well, nothing really happened here. They just say that this place used to be owned by an old widow. I guess her husband had died in his sleep the night they had bought the place. She always said that she wouldn't move out of the mansion because she didn't have the money to move everything out of there and buy a new house, but it was obvious that she stayed because her husband died here. When she passed away, she stated in her will that no one would be allowed to buy the house unless they were any of her three childern."

Naruto quirked his eyebrows. "Three children?" He turned to face Shikamaru. "She only had one kid."

Shikamaru smirked. "Exactly." Ino looked down at him confused.

"So what was she talking about then?" She asked.

Shikamaru looked up at her. "Well, No one was really sure what she meant, but supposedly, there was some kind of family that had lived here secretly when they moved in. The parents were dead when they arrived, but there were apparently three children that were still there. No one ever saw them, or knew if they even existed for that matter, but everyone assumed that that was probably what she was talking about."

"Well, what about her one child?" Ino asked.

Shikamaru shook his head. "... I don't really know...Maybe they died with the mother or something?"

"No, she killed her." Naruto, Ino, and Shikamaru all looked at Sasuke. "Her daughter I guess had given birth to a baby before she had married, and didn't tell her mom about it. When her mom found out, she locked her up in the same room as the 'three children' and wouldn't let her out until her daughter told her where the baby was. I guess she never told her and the 'three children' tortoured her to death." Everyone still stared at Sasuke unexpectedly. Sasuke half smiled. "My mom used to tell me the story so I'd listen to her when she told me to do things...back when she was alive...." Sasuke mummbled the last part. Naruto looked down in pity, feeling the slight connection he had with Sasuke, both of their parents having been killed at such a young age. Too young for Naruto to remember, but just young enough for Sasuke to recall every detail. Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but soon realized that he didn't have anything to say.

Sakura gulped. "Y-you mean, this place is haunted...?" She sounded on the verge of panic.

Shikamaru smiled. "Who said anything about it being haunted? A few people died here, no biggie."

Sakura didn't look any calmer. Sasuke turned to her and lightly lifted her chin up. "Calm down, nothings going to happen to us. This was way back in the 1600's, it's not like there's anyone here to hurt us now." Sakura looked up into his black eyes and felt her heart give a tight squeeze, but not from Sasuke's penitrating gaze, but from the shadow she spotted at the very top of the staircase. One from behind the corner, where no one else was even near. She felt a scream build up in her throat, but something held it down. She stared at the shadow, praying that it was just the silouhette of a piece of furniture. Her stomach dropped when she saw a pale face peek its way around the corner. It's hair spiked and shaggy-like, Sakura could tell that it was a boy. She felt her eyes water up just before the scream that was lodged in her throat jumped passed her lips with such a peircing force. Sasuke pulled away and turned towards the top of the staircase to see what the cause of the scream was. Ino bolted down the stairs and behind Shikamaru, looking up at the top, like everyone else.

Sakura stumbled backwards feeling for the front doors. "T-THERE'S SOMEONE HERE!!!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. She franticly ran towards the door and pulled at the knob. Her heart pounded loudly when the knob was locked in place. Sakura yanked at the door knob, shaking the door desperately wanting to escape. "LET ME OUT!!" She cried. Shikamaru stared at the dark shadows that stood silent at the top. He had his camera on and recording every second.

Sasuke grabbed Sakura by the shoulders and yelled to try and get her attention. "Sakura!!! Calm Down!!! SAKURA!!" Sasuke yanked her away from the door and held her firmly in front of him. "Calm down! There's nothing there!"

Sakura shook her head, crying and shaking. "I saw him..He was watching us..." She whined. Sasuke pulled her into a hug and tried to comfort her by running his hand along her back repeatedly. He looked over at everyone and saw that they looked evenly paranoid.

Shikamaru looked over at Naruto and then handed his camera to him. Naruto watched him as he approached Sakura. She looked up at him, terrified. She pulled away from Sasuke and faced Shikamaru. He gently put his hands on her shoulders. "Would you feel better if I went up there?"

Sakura's eyes widened. "No...no, no, no, d-don't t-there's someone there!" Shikamaru sighed.

"There's no one there Sakura." Sakura continued to deny him, shaking her head and mummbling the same things again. Shikamaru let go of her shoulders and then turned towards the stairs. He clicked his flashlight onto a brighter level and slowly made his way up them. All eyes were on him, expecting the worst. He gradually assceneded up the steps, feeling his heart begin to speed up. His appearence looked scared, but calm at the same time. Sakura fell to the ground, clutching her knees to her chest and burying her face, not having it in her to watch. Naruto watched, feeling more nervous than Shikamaru did. He held the camera up to the spot where Sakura had supposedly seen the boy and stared there himself, expecting someone to jump out at them.

Shikamaru drew in a deep breath, now only a few steps away from his destination. He kept telling himself that no one was there, but his mind was yelling otherwise. The creaking of the wooden stairs didn't seem to help his cause at all. He looked back at the group and knew that if he didn't confirm it, then they wouldn't find any kind of relief from their new paranoia. He closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath, forcing his legs to go the few steps onto the top floor. He flashed the light up at the top, hoping that if someone did turn out to be there he could warn them off. He bit his lip and then took the final step upward.

Everyone below stared at him, holding their breaths in fear. Their bodies were tense and everything still. This is what they had been ready to expect. Going into an abandoned mansion with no electrictiy and a bunch of flashlights, of couse they were going to see things that weren't really there....Or what they hoped wasn't really there.

Shikamaru let out a large sigh of relief. Sakura looked up as she heard the sigh and watched as he flashed the light down into the hall. "There's no one up here, Sakura. Just like I said." He laughed out of relief and then grabbed something from the hall. "This is probably what you saw..." He had grabbed a manikin's head and pulled it out for them to see.

The entire group let out a large sigh of relief. Everyone turned their attention to Sakura, who looked just the slightest bit relieved. Naruto held the camera on Shikamaru, but had his head turned towards Sakura. After taking another look around, Shikamaru began to make his way back down the steps. Ino took in another deep breath to calm herself. "Dammit, Sakura! You scared the living shit out of me when you did that!"

Sasuke shook his head, his heart still pounding in his throat. "I'll tell you one thing though, I will _never_ say anything bad about that kid again." Naruto looked at Sasuke and smiled slightly. "He has got himself some balls, going up there like that."

"What was that?" Shikamaru asked, making his way towards the group.

Naruto smiled, holding the camera at Shikamaru. "Sasuke just said he wanted your balls."

"Hell, after that, I'd take 'em! I was scared outta my mind, thinking someone else was up there." Sasuke said.

"I know you would..." Shikamaru mummbled just loud enough for him to hear. Sasuke looked at him but didn't say anything. Shikamaru smiled and then turned to Sakura. He bent down to her height and waited for her to look up at him. "See? I told you, no one up there. You just saw that doll that was there and mistaked it for a human. You're getting too paranoid, calm down."

Sakura nodded. "...I-I'm...s-sorry...I r-really thought there was someone there..."

Ino began to dig into her bag for one of the sandwhiches they had packed. "Well, at least we know it wasn't...Here," She pulled one out and then handed it to Sakura. "Eat something, it might make you feel a little bit better." Sakura hesitated before taking the sandwhich and unwrapping the plastic wrap. Sasuke watched her take a bite into the food and looked over at Ino. Ino laughed. "You want one too?" He smiled as if to say yes. She pulled out another one and handed it to him. Shikamaru tossed his bag down and layed on it like a pillow. Naruto sat down and then pulled out one of his own sandwhiches and began to eat it. Good thing he made almost two loaves of sandwhiches, if he was getting hungry this early. Ino then made her way over to where Naruto and Shikamaru were and took a seat beside Shikamaru. She looked down at him and cocked her head slightly. "How scary do think that'd be for the video?"

Shikamaru smiled. "If we got it shot right...probably enough to get someone to jump."

Naruto looked down at the camera and then decided to see for himself how it appeared. He went back to when Sasuke had just finished telling the rest of the story about the family and played it. The audio had been turned off on the recorder for some odd reason, so Naruto couldn't hear everything that happened, but only watch it. Naruto's eyes widened a bit when Sakura screamed. He had to admit, it was more realistic than what they could've pulled off by acting. Watching it all over again and thinking of it from the perspective of the teacher, they were destined for an 'A'. He was suddenly excited about what else they might run into over the next few hours. Naruto looked down and watched what he recorded, but hadn't seen himself. Shikamaru was standing at the top of the staircase, wavering his flashlight around as if to look for something he may have missed. Then, Shikamaru turned back towards the hall and said something. Naruto scrunched his eyebrows, not recalling Shikamaru saying anything to them then. He watched as his lips moved again, as if he had been talking to someone. Naruto went back to the recording mode and then handed the camera to Shikamaru. "Hey, The sound'll work when we go to put it on the disk, right?"

Shikamaru took the camera and looked at him. "Yeah, This camera's half-retarded. It records the sound, but it only plays back when you upload it onto the computer. Don't worry, everything'll come up just how it happened."

Naruto nodded. "'Kay, I just thought you had the sound turned off when you were recording or something..."

Shikamaru laughed. "Hah! Give me a break, I'm not that stupid. I'd hate myself if I missed her screaming like that." Ino gave him an odd look. "What? You know when we re-watch that it'll be hilarious." Ino rolled her eyes.

"Cause that's why we're doing this..." She smiled slightly afterwards. "Although, I would like to see her scream like that once this is all over with." Shikamaru smirked, knowing that was how she would respond. Naruto turned his head and looked over at Sasuke to find him lip-locked with Sakura. He watched for a minute, seeing how their lips flickered off of eachothers with such good timing. He then turned away, feeling like he had invaded their privacy by looking. Ino saw Naruto flustered and then looked over at the two to see why. She blinked, and then sighed. "Seriously? You guys can't save that for later? Y'know when I said eat something, I didn't mean his face!" Neither of the two pulled away from eachother, the only response Ino got from them was Sasuke's middle finger. Ino glared at him. "Just when I had the littleist bit of respect going for him too. He's such an asshole..." Naruto didn't say anything, he looked over at Shikamaru to find him recording things again.

"So are we gonna go anywhere? Or are we just going to sit here and watch things that aren't really there?" Naruto asked. Ino looked over at him with an agreeing expression.

"Yeah, I wanna see the rest of the house. This place looks so pretty. I love the victorian style it has." Ino stated.

Shikamaru sat up. "Well, I guess we kind of have to, since the front door locked on us..." He then held the camera on Sasuke and Sakura. "C'mon you two, we're leaving."

Sakura pulled away and looked over at Shikamaru. "You mean we're going home?"

"You would say that..." Shikamaru mummbled.


	2. Chapter 2

A few hours had passed and the group had pretty much searched the entire first floor. The doors that were inbetween the stairs turned out to lead into the dining room, which was connected to the kitchen. Ino and Shikamaru had lingered there, examining all of the different cooking utensils and old food. Naruto was with Sasuke and Sakura, feeling awkward as he lead the two into room after room. The three had been rather quiet, walking down the dark hallways together. Shikamaru and Ino had been following them with the camera up until they reached the kitchen. Sakura didn't feel safe at all in the kitchen, being surrounded by numerous types of weapons. They were supposed to wait for the two back in the enterance hallway, but Naruto and Sasuke both wanted to see what was behind the door that was on the left and right walls. Naruto had opened the door while Sasuke flashed the light into the dark shadows. They found themselves staring down a hallway that reached further into the complete darkness. They checked the other door as well, finding the same thing. "Maybe this is one of those symetrical mansions? Where everything is built the same as it's opposite end." Naruto stated.

Sasuke merely hummed to his thoughts. He looked back at the dining room doors and then to the dark hallway. "C'mon, let's check it out." He said, calling Sakura over with his finger. Naruto bit his lip.

"Shouldn't we just wait for the other two before we go?" He asked, only to be ignored. He watched as the two began to make their way down the dark hallway. Naruto looked back at the dining room, feeling a sharp fear crawl up his back at the thought of waiting here alone. He then shook his head and followed the two into the dark hallway.

They had gone far enough into the hallway to where they were surrounded by darkness, either way they turned. The flashlights were the only thing that kept them going forward. Sasuke scanned his light over the next door and twisted the knob, pushing it open. He flashed the light in there to see that the room was covered with wooden boxes, resembling more of an attic than a room. They stepped into the room cautiously, Sasuke first, folllowed by Naruto, and then Sakura, who lingered a bit behind. Standing in the opening of the room, they could see a bunch of puppets dangling from the ceiling, or from the boxes that were placed upright all over the place. There were a lot of mirrors that were placed against the wall or the wooden crates. The clutterness of the room made it slightly hard to move around, the few spots of openess feeling like a maze. Sakura stared around at everything, following the floor boards in front of her rather than the people. She bit her lip looking at all of the creepy dolls that were tangled about.

After a moment of wandering, she closed her eyes, shaking the scary images out of her mind. "Guys, Can we leave? This place gives me th-" Sakura cut off when she realized that she had been talking to herself. She looked around herself, flashing the light in all of the directions."...guys...?" She mummbled. She stared forward, standing still to try and locate them by sound.

She heard the sound of something squeak and quickly flashed the light in the general direction, only to be met with the creepy stare of one of the puppets. Her heart began to thud louder in her chest, fearing that maybe it wasn't a manikin that she had seen earlier. Or the person in the window for that matter, maybe there was really someone here and they were in this room right now?

Sakura felt the panic over come her, suddenly feeling clastrouphobic. She rushed further into the room, hoping that she had just been walking too slow and that she'd catch up with them. She stumbled into a wider opening of the room, now seeing that the boxes had been set up in a circled manner from the center of the room. She looked around, feeling like she would throw up at any given moment. "Guys...? This isn't funny, where are you?" She asked to the black shadows. Her ears strained themselves when she heard the squeaking noise again. It came from directly behind her. Sakura stood in place, afraid to turn around. She looked down at the dim light that came from the flashlight and quickly thought. _'The light....If its that person, they'd know where I am from it...' _She drew in a deep breath before clicking the flashlight off. Sakura stood still for a moment, letting her eyes adjust as well as they could before she allowed her body to slowly turn around.

When she turned, see found herself staring at a silohuette of a body sitting in a chair. Whoever it was sat facing her, their body stiff and completely still. Sakura's face went pale, her breath heavy and hard to catch. She cocked her head slightly, trying to figure out if it was a person, or a puppet. It was hard to distingush any kind of detail from were they were sitting. Sakura swallowed a lump in her throat, swearing that if this was Sasuke pulling a prank on her, they were done. She waited, watching the silohuette for any kind of movement. _'It's got to be a puppet....It's not moving or anything...' _ She looked down at her flashlight and bit her lip. It was kind of pointless for her to have turned it off in the first place. She was surronded by puppets, a bunch of dolls, not any strangers...

Her hands were shaking almost uncontrolably when her finger glided over the switch. She held her breath as she clicked it on and looked forward at the now revealed silohuette.

A pair of dark beety eyes stared forward at her, pale skin and purple markings all along the face watching her. The lips formed into a creepy smile as the man spoke. "Hello, puppet."

Sakura dropped the flashlight, the light dimming into blackness the instant it hit the ground.

"Where the fuck did she go?" Sasuke said aloud as him and Naruto looked around them for the missing girl. Naruto flashed the light over a few crates and then sighed.

"I told you we should've waited..." He mummbled. Sasuke looked over at him and then scratched his head.

"She was right behind us just a second ago..." He bit his lip looking around again."Why didn't you say something if she was lingering?"

"I don't know, she's not my girlfriend..." Naruto shrugged. "Besides, she was still in veiw whenever I looked back, then she just dissappeared..."

Sasuke put a finger to his lip. "Maybe we should wait a minute. She might've just gotten a little bit behind."

Naruto sat down on one of the crates and pulled his bag off of his shoulders, rubbing them before returning it to his back. Sasuke continued to look down the path that they took, hoping she'd pop out soon. "That damn girl...This is way I hate dating people like her. Now she's gonna bitch at me and blame all of the shit on me like I set it up or something." Sasuke looked over at one of the dolls and flicked the string, moving the puppets arm. "I swear, after this, that's it for-"

"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Both Sasuke and Naruto jolted up, hearing Sakura's scream from further inside the room. They looked at eachother before rushing down the path, and towards the yelling. She continued to scream, loudly in an agonizing way.

"Sakura!?" Sasuke yelled, hoping she'd hear him. He was only answered by her peircing voice, screaming and crying. "Sakura!?" He repeated. In an instant her voice had just cut off, followed by nasty, gurgling like noises. Sasuke looked over at Naruto to find the panic plastered on his face as well. Sasuke ran the light quickly over all of the boxes, his eyes barely caught the circled opening just beyond the wall of puppets. He grabbed Naruto's shirt and pointed between the cracks. Naruto looked and saw what Sasuke hadn't yet. His stomach turned when his eyes landed on Sakura's limp body, laying on the floor with her spine ripped out from her back. Blood flowed out of her mouth, her bright emerald eyes staring forward at them. Naruto knew right away that she was dead. He stared blankly as a man reached down and flipped her over onto her back. He stuck something down her bleeding throat and then dug a scaple into her eyes, pulling them out of their sockett and placing them into a wooden doll he had sitting beside him. "Rare...yet such a pretty eye color..." The man mummbled to himself, holding the doll out at arms length. As if the man felt their presence, his eyes jolted to where the two were hiding, spotting Naruto's bright blue eyes and smiling. Naruto turned his gaze towards Sasuke to find his face completely white and his eyes strained forward. In mere seconds, Sasuke had stumbled to his feet and bolted towards the door. Naruto looked over to find himself almost face to face with the man that had killed Sakura. The only thing that seperated them was the metal rack that the dolls hung off of. His eyes widened as he stared into the other man's eyes, his body frozen in place. Naruto felt his heart thumping in his throat, somehow summoning it in him to try and bolt off like Sasuke had. Just as he began to move, the man reached out through the rack and grabbed onto Naruto's shirt. Naruto looked down and saw Sakura's blood freshly soaked into his shirt. Adrenaline pulsed through him, making his body bolt off towards the door, snapping the guys arm against part of the metal and releasing his grip on Naruto.

Naruto's feet carried him just as fast down the hall as it had through the room. His mind was blank, Sakura's dead body the only image that filled his eyes. He screamed loudly when he felt a pair of hands grab onto his shoulders. "NARUTO!!!" Naruto blinked, realizing that he had run smack into Shikamaru. He took in heavy breaths, tears falling down his cheeks, his body shaking uncontrolably. He looked around to find himself in the enterance hall, along with Shikamaru, Ino, and Sasuke. Sasuke was currently trying to pull the front doors open through sheer strength, but they only shook, not opening slightly. Naruto's lip trembled when he looked back at the door he just sprinted through. "Naruto, what the fuck is going on?!" Shikamaru yelled.

"H-h-he-he he k-kil-killed....Sakura's d-dea-" Naruto studdered.

"He? What're you talking about?" Shikamaru looked over at Ino confused. Ino stared at Naruto, terrified by his broken appearence. "Where's Sakura?"

Naruto looked back at the doors and began to back away. "W-we have to g-get out of h-here....H-He's gonna c-come for us..." Naruto turned to Sasuke, and then looked over at Ino. His heart was thumping loudly in his throat, still finding it hard to get enough air into his lungs. Shikamaru shook him by the shoulders. "Naruto, where's Sakura?"

"Sh-she's..."

"She's dead! She's FUCKING DEAD!!!!!!" Sasuke yelled kicking the door in furry and panic. "Because she was right!!!!! There IS someone in here!! And he FUCKING KILLED HER!!!!!!!" Ino looked over at Shikamaru.

"We've got to find a way out of here..." She mummbled, seeing the blood on Naruto's shirt and feeling her stomach tighten into knots. "We're gonna get killed..."

Shikamaru opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a loud and echoing whistle. Everyone's head turned towards the hallway Naruto and Sasuke had sprinted from. Naruto's eyes widened, knowing he had followed the voices out here. The whistle sounded like he was calling a dog, then his voice echoed from down the hall. "Dolllllll-iiieeee!!!" He called. "Come here boy!" Naruto immdiately bolted towards the dining room doors, the rest of the group following him. Shikamaru rushed up to Naruto and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Stop!! It's a dead end over here!!" Naruto had stopped and stared widly at Shikamaru. He didn't know what to do, he was too scared to think right.

Ino watched them, slipping into panic, while her eyes had already flooded with tears. "Guys!!!Come On!!! He's Coming!!!"

"Come here!!!!!! I've got a treat for you!!!!!!!" He yelled. Shikamaru looked around franticly and then spotted a door that him and Ino had waited to check out.

"In here, hurry!" He rushed everyone over to the door and prayed that it lead somewhere. He pulled it open and immdiately rushed down the hall they had been met with. The hallway was short, and only contained two doors. He pulled one of them open and found himself recording the image of a bathroom. "Fuck..." He turned around and pulled open the other door and found another hallway, a longer one with a staircase at the end of it. Everyone rushed into the hallway, Shikamaru shutting the door behind them and catching up with the group. "Make sure you shut any door we open, that way he can't just follow us by open doors." Sasuke ran the fastest towards the stairs, his heart racing in his chest, the faint whistling ringing in his ears. He rushed up the stairs only to come to a complete stop. Naruto ran into him, his heart pounding through his chest. He followed Sasuke's gaze and found his eyes locked with a pair of teal eyes.

A boy sat at the top of the stairs, his hair spiked and red, and his lips sewn shut together. He was holding onto a brown teddy bear, his eyes wide almost in shock. Naruto went to turn around and run back but Shikamaru held him firmly. "There's no where else to go..." He mummbled, his voice cracking. Naruto turned around, back to the kid sitting on the stairs. He sat there staring at them, until he heard the whistling coming from the other end of the hall. His eyes looked towards the hallway and then back at the group. Ino ran her hand through her hair, crying and scared. The red head then stood up and rushed down the stairs, directly pass the group and down towards the whistling. Sasuke stared at the kid, wondering what it was that he was up to. It wasn't until he felt someone shove him forward that he snapped out of his trance and continued up the stairs.

"Window..." Ino mummbled. "We've got to find a window, we can jump out of it and get the fuck out of here. We're only on the second floor."

"Right." Shikamaru said, filming them runing up the stairs on his video recorder. He looked behind them to see if they were being followed, but it seemed like whoever it was went in another direction. Sasuke sprinted a good distane ahead of the group, bolting straight into the first room he saw. His heart dropped when his eyes met the window.

"What the fuck!?" He yelled, walking over to them and examining the thick black metal that forbid any enterance. His hands wrapped around the metal and pulled at them with all of the strenght he had. They didn't even budge. "FUCK!" He spun on his heel to find everyone else just now getting in the door way. Ino looked over at the barred window and nearly screamed in frustration.

"What the fuck is this place!?" She cried. Ino turned around and looked at the next door, then rushed over to it and opened it. Her eyes fell on a similar window with bars just like the previous one. She let out a long breath and then made her way into the next room, meeting the same thing. "We're trapped in here..." She mummbled. "This place, i-it's like a slaughter house or something. We're completely locked in here..."

Shikamaru walked up to her, while Naruto and Sasuke remained in the first room. He bit his lip before trying to find a way to comfort her. "H-hey...We can get out of here, there's bound to be some kind of opening."

She shot him a look. "Really? Could you point it out because I think I might've missed it when that FREAK was chasing us through the halls!" She threw her hands in the air. "I mean, honestly! I think getting out of here is going to be our last priority...We'll have our heads torn off before we even get the chance to look for an exit!"

"That doesn't mean we won't find one..." Shikamaru tried to counter. "If we find a way out of here, then we won't have anything else to worry about. We call the cops and they come and arrest the people in here."

Ino bit her lip, trying to keep herself from breaking down in tears. "Do you know how lucky we'd be if we found a way out of here? We're in a four story mansion for christ sake. If the windows are all barred, what're the chances of us finding an exit?"

Shikamaru sighed, looking down at the ground. "...That doesn't mean we should just give up...There could be hunrdeds of exits that we may have already missed, we can't expect to live if we don't do anything."

Ino stared at him, lip trembling. Sasuke and Naruto stepped out of the room, Sasuke moving in a furious manner. "Alright, Genius! What's the game plan here?" Shikamaru looked at him confused. "Don't give me that look! You're the fucker that got us into this mess, find us a way out of it!"

Naruto couldn't help but agree with Sasuke. If Shikamaru hadn't decided to share his idea, no one would be in a panic right now, and Sakura would actually be living. His eyes looked up at the brunette, having a small feeling of hatred towards him for this. All of their lives were at stake right now and it didn't seem to likely that any of them would make it through. Naruto bit his lip to try and bury the sudden hatred. It's not like Shikamaru knew this was going to happen to them, none of it was really his fault.

"Hey, I've got an idea!" Sasuke said. "Why don't we throw you down there and you can deal with those freaks the same way Sakura did, let _your_ eyes get pulled out of your socket and see what ideas come from that mouth of yours again!"

"What, you think I planned all of this!?" Shikamaru yelled. "You think that I wanted Sakura to get killed like that? I didn't know anyone was in here, this place was supposed to be abandoned!"

"You think SHE knew that she'd be murdered here!?" Sasuke screamed back at him. "She didn't even wanna come here in the first place! Then she sees people and you have to go and convince her it was a fucking doll! Sakura could've been on her way home if you didn't talk her into it!"

"Talk her into- I told her what I saw! What the fuck did you want me to say!? 'Yeah, there was someone up there, let's get goin' you guys!' " Shikamaru said in a mocked tone. "And if I remember correctly, Didn't I tell you to WAIT for us while we were in the kitchen!?"

Ino ran her hand through her hair. "Guys, knock it off-"

"If I remember correctly, didn't YOU tell us all to go and check out the rest of the house!? We couldn't of just filmed the rest of things in the enterance hall?" Sasuke yelled, taking a step forward.

"Guys Stop-"

Shikamaru drew in a deep breath. "Do you really think that would've made a difference? We were already locked in before ANYTHING happened!"

"Stop it!-"

"Yeah, and who was the one that did that? You shut the door didn't you? Thinking things would look better if it's darker!"

"Cause I knew that the door was going to lock on us! All of this was set up, all on my doing! I planned it all-"

"STOP IT!!!" Ino finally yelled, shutting both of them up. She waited a moment, shooting both of them looks before talking. "Yelling at eachother isn't going to solve anything! They probably know exactly where we are because of your yelling!" She turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, I understand how you felt for Sakura, but come one. Blaming it all on Shikamaru isn't going to do anyone any bit of good. I get how you feel but-"

"No, you don't. Trust me, none of you guys do! You don't have a fucking clue how I feel!" He yelled back at her, his emotions over flowing now. "Don't even try to compare yourselves to me!" He yelled, letting bitter memories flush into his mind. He took in a breath, only to choke off in a sob. Before he knew it, his eyes were sending burning tears down his pale cheeks. "None of you guys even have a clue, going home to your parents everyday. Try having that snatched away from you." He covered his face with his hand, trying to stop his tears. "Then picture yourself with someone you actually like, someone that can make things just a little bit easier for you! Now picture that person laying on the ground with fucking BLOOD pouring out of her sockets because some freak tore her eyes out!" Ino remained quiet. Naruto stared down at the ground, being reminded of his similar loneliness at home. "Then tell me you understand how I feel..."

Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he heard some kind of pattering across the floor. He looked down at the carpet they were on and realized that it would block out most of the noise of anyone walking on it. He gulped, his mind coming to the only reasonable explanation for the patter noise. His heart felt like it had just stopped beating in his rib cage, feeling a sudden presence hovering behind him. Sasuke looked at him, feeling it as well. Ino's pale face right away told them that the person that chased them must've made their way behind them while the group had been arguing. She swallowed a thick lump in her throat before flashing the light behind Naruto. Sure enough the same man was standing there, staring over at Sasuke. "You know, I hear some of the saddest stories while doing this..." He said. Sasuke stared at him, the hair on the back of his neck sticking on end.

"...holy shit..." He mummbled.

The man smirked then opened his mouth to say something. "It's actually quite interesting, if you ask m-" He cut off when a brown teddy bear had hit him on the head. He let out a sigh before looking down at it. "Gaara..." He turned around, but saw only the darkness and shook his head. He spun back to the group. "Can I borrow that?" He pulled the flashlight out of Naruto's hands. "Thanks." He said, flashing the light over at the corner they passed. The red head from earlier was standing there watching them. "What?" The man asked sounding a bit irritated. The red head stared at the group for a moment before raising his index finger and pointing back down the stairs. The guy rolled his eyes and sighed. "I'm glad you're lookin' and all, pointing exactly where we just looked, but I already found them." He pointed at the group. "Thanks anyways." He went to turn back to the group, but was cut off by Gaara.

"Mmm!" He yelled through his sewn lips. Naruto was frozen in place, almost positive that he had pissed himself. Everyone else seemed in the same state as him, no one daring to move an inch. The guy looked over at him, runing his tounge along his teeth. Gaara threw his finger back towards the stairs. "Mm!" He repeated.

The man stared at him confused. "What?" He asked.

Gaara rolled his head, growing frustrated. He thought a moment before his teal eyes landed on Ino. He then pointed at her. "Mhmm!" The guy turned to Ino and then back to Gaara.

He shook his head. "I-I don't get it..." He looked back at Ino. "You wanna...take her...in your bedroom...downstairs...?" Ino's eyes widened. Gaara shook his head. He thought again and then pointed at Ino once more, but then held his hair up into two pigtails. The guy opened his mouth like he figured it out but shut it confused. "You wanna dress her up?"

Gaara smacked a hand to his face, obviously frustrated. He pointed upward then held his hands up into pigtails again. The guy smirked, finally understanding what it was the red head had been trying to tell him. "Ahhhh, Temari, right?"

Gaara nodded, pointing back down the stairs. The man turned back to the group and smiled. "Well, unfortunatly, Kankuro here has something to attend to. But I'll tell you what," He reached down into his pockets and pulled out a set of keys. He then looked at Shikamaru and smirked, tossing them at him. Shikamaru barely managed to catch them and when he did, he looked up at Kankuro confused. "Those are the keys to the front door. If you can get passed us, Temari, Gaara and I, then you're free." Naruto's body was tense and still. He barely allowed himself to take in a small breath before holding it once again. "Guess what though? Four don't match the lock, and when you put in one key that doesn't match, the lock changes, and when it changes, the only key that can open it isn't on that key ring." Shikamaru looked down at the set of keys and then back to Kankuro. "There's a way to figure out which key it is, but I'm not gonna tell yah." He snickered before locking eyes with Ino. Ino immdiately looked away, feeling the creepy lust in his eyes. "I wouldn't mind takin' you to my bedroom though. I'll let you out myself if you wanted." Ino looked around before looking back at Kankuro, obviously not wanting any kind of contact with him. Kankuro laughed. "Yeah, I wouldn't trust me either." He smiled, handing the flashlight back to Naruto and turning to leave. "Oh!" He said, looking over at Sasuke. "Sorry about your girlfriend...There really are some sick people in this world..." He said, reminding them just how torturous he could be. He chuckled, picking up the stuffed bear on the ground and then walked off, meeting up with Gaara at the end of the hall.

Naruto finally exhaled the long breath he had been holding, staring down at the floor afterwards. Sasuke's jaw was locked tight, remembering the sick image of Sakura. Shikamaru fingered the keys in deep thought before slipping them into his pocket. Ino swallowed a thick lump in her throat, her heart thudding loudly against her chest. There was a long awkward silence before anyone spoke. Shikamaru looked down at his video recorder, noticing he had recorded just about everything that had happened so far. Well, everything except Sakura getting her spine ripped out. He bit his cheek and thought a minute. "...three children...."

"What?" Naruto mummbled, looking up at Shikamaru.

"Three children...'No one would be allowed to buy the house except her three children'. Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro...They all inherited the mansion..." He stated. Sasuke shook his head.

"They couldn't be the three children, the lady died in the 1600's. No one could be alive that long." He murmured.

"No, What if, Say those three children then had three children of their own, and then passed the mansion onto them when they passsed away. Then those three each had a child and did the same thing, and so on and so fourth." He looked over at the wall, his eye taking in the vine like design of the wallpaper. "And then there's that kid that was never found. The daughter never told her mother where the baby was so maybe they told them that he or she would return and when they did, they were to get rid of them. Maybe that's why they've been here..."

Sasuke stared at him, not seeming to have any opinion on his thoughts. "Even if that was the case, how would that information help us in anyway right now?"

Shikamaru went quiet for a minute. "I dunno but, I think we should move it before that Kankuro guy gets done with whatever he's doing."


	3. Chapter 3

Ino scarfed down another sandwhich, having a sudden appetite after runing all over the place. The four of them had been searching everywhere for a way to get to the front door. Shikamaru even had the guts to try and go the way they came only for them to be met by the red head sitting at the bottom of the stairs. After an hour of just runing around, they found themselves locked in a bathroom on the fourth floor. Sasuke was leaning against the large tub, Shikamaru contemplating things while sitting on the toilet, [lol] and Naruto with his back to the door. Ino was sitting on the sink counter, now on her last sandwhich. She had already felt regret for eating more than one sandwhich, it being the only thing that seemed to take her mind off of where they were. Whenever she had been scared in previous situations, her father used to make her a fresh peanut butter and jelly sandwhich to try and calm her down. Something about the thick substance helped her to relax when her heart felt like it would get lodged in her throat.

Ino looked down at the white bread in her hands and thought about her father. Her lips trembled a bit recalling a time when she was younger and had been having nightmares after watching The Little Mermaid. Ursula had turned her into a small gold fish and forced her onto the land, where she then laughed as people would walk by, no one would return Ino into the sea. After waking up, she began crying, swearing she had just seen Ursula laughing at her in her closet. Her father came then, sweeping her up into his masculine arms and then carrying her into the kitchen. _'You know what always makes me feel better when I get scared?' _ Ino had stared at her father, waiting for his secret. Her father than turned to the cabinent and pulled out a loaf of bread along with some peanutbutter. She watched patiently, hoping it'd work. _'A nice peanutbutter and jelly sandwhich...Wanna know why?'_ Ino had nodded her head, the tears finally ceasing their fall. _'Because it reminds me of this...'_ Her father smiled when he saw the confusion on his daugther's face. _'Home. It's where I always make them, so it reminds me of being here, with you and your mother.'_ Ino smiled slightly, feeling oddly inspired by the funny comparison. Her father smiled with her, then opened up the jar of peanut butter and made her a sandwhich. Maybe it had been because of the way her father had put it, or maybe just because she had herself believing it would, but the sandwhich trick did work. She ended up falling back to sleep in her father's arm in the short trip it was for him to lay her back down.

A tear rolled down Ino's cheek, pushing the memory away. She wondered what her father would do when news was delivered that she had been murdered in an abandoned mansion. She wrapped the rest of her sandwhich up and shoved it into her bag. Her eyes looked up and met the saddened image of Sasuke, who was staring off at the wall. She bit her lip, not able to even imagine how Sasuke could've felt. Not only had his girlfriend been murdered, but now he had no motive of getting out of here alive. He had no family to return home to, his parents had been killed off long ago while his only brother had been put into a mental instituion for murdering their family. She couldn't help but feel guilty for him. Even though she knew none of it was really any of her fault, she felt like there was something she maybe could've done differently that might've changed things. And Sasuke wasn't the only one either, Naruto was going through the same doubt as well, Ino could see it in there faces that they've been thinking of giving up. Naruto seemed so much more handled then Sasuke though, keeping everything bottled up and not letting anyone else see what was going on in his mind or how painful things would be when he'd return to his empty house without feeling the compassion from any kind of parents or siblings. Ino had never known Naruto grew up alone until the two had a project of their own back in fifth grade. She remembered talking on the phone with him when they were trying to figure out who would do what. Her father had told her to ask Naruto if he'd like to come over. Ino then told Naruto to ask his parents if they'd let him over in which he had replied. _'I don't have any...'_

She looked over at his sunken face and wondered what it would be like to grow up with out any parents herself. She closed her eyes, not being able to picture her life without them. When she opened them, she found herself staring at Shikamaru, his body leaned forward, arm perched up on his knee and his chin resting atop his hand. He had been chewing on his pinky nail, staring over at the door. Ino's heart gave a small squeeze looking at his soft profile. She bit her lip, realizing that even Shikamaru had it rough. He had grown up getting picked on because he cared for things a little bit differently. Ino had always admired that about him, somewhat jealous that she couldn't have the same kind of trait he did. He always hung around with kids that he enjoyed, the ones that no one else seemed to like and it wasn't because no one else would except him, but because he choose it that way. Ino looked down at the floor tiles regretting that she had even thought about having it bad. Her life was never bad, times had been tough for the family, making their money completely off of the flower shop, but it had never been bad. Shikamaru had dealt with assholes his entire life, but he didn't once complain about how bad any of it was, just kept it to himself and moved on.

Shikamaru turned his head and caught Ino staring at him. Ino quickly looked away, recently aware of the feelings that she had developed for the boy. She had tried to deny it for some time, but after the things that had happened, she knew she couldn't pretend it wasn't there. He took in a deep breath and then stretched, a joint cracking, making a louder nosie than anyone had in almost half an hour. Sasuke lightly batted his eyes, exhaustion settling in on him. He then reached down in his back pocket and pulled out his phone. He laughed slightly at the time. Naruto looked over at him and then opened his mouth, his lips stuck together from remaining quiet for so long. "What time is it?"

"A little past six..." He mummbled. Naruto half smiled and then turned his attention back to the floor. The silence had then settled in again. Ino looked at everyone's face, feeling that nothing was going to happen if she didn't say something. She opened her mouth and then shut it again, not even sure what she needed to say. A tear rolled down her cheek again, feeling deflated herself. She studied their dull motive and then stood up. Sasuke was the only one that looked up at her. She brushed her off her skirt and then looked at the group. Sasuke looked away, staring back at the wall. Ino felt a little paign of frustration. "Are we just going to sit here and wait for them to come and kill us?" Shikamaru looked over at her and then looked at the ground. She stared at them a moment, feeling completely ignored. "Hello?" She still didn't recieve any kind of response from anyone. Ino buried her hands in her face, on the brink of breaking down. She could never survive this if she didn't have any kind of strength to lead her. Shikamaru watched her a moment, before standing up and walking over to her. He wrapped his arms around her body, in which Ino buried her face into his shoulder. "I-I can't do this..." She cried. "I can't do this, I'm too scared...." Shikamaru held her tightly, resting his head against hers.

"...I..I know how you feel, but you're right...We can't just sit here and wait for them to come and get us." Shikamaru said, runing his hand down her back. "It's just....hard to believe that-...." He cut off deciding not to say what was on his mind. He closed his eyes and then pulled back slightly. "No, you're right, we need to get moving. " He ran a hand over his face after releasing Ino and turned to the two that were left on the floor. "...What 're we gonna do?"

Naruto looked up, but then focused on the tiles. Sasuke cleared his throat and then took in a deep breath. "I-I don't know...What can we do? Run around looking for one door hoping that we don't run into three freaks that want to kill us? How do even know if those keys'll work anyways? How do we know that he didn't just give us a set of keys to get our hopes up? Ho-"

"What I want to know is how did he know that the door was locked in the first place..." Naruto mummbled. The three turned their gaze to Naruto. "Then there's that red head, what's his deal?"

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked.

"That was twice he interupted that Kankuro guy from dealing with us, we were pretty much dead until he threw that teddy bear....And his lips, why're they sewed shut?"

"Don't you think you might be over thinking that?" Shikamaru asked. Sasuke thought about it for a moment and then stood up.

"I'm not sure, but I kinda don't want to stick around to find out...There's got to be some other way out of here, maybe a wooden wall or something that we could bust through. I just don't trust those keys..."

Shikamaru pulled out the keys and looked at them. It was a pretty high risk to take, getting pass them and hoping that they chose the correct key for the door. "....He said that there was a way to figure out what key it actually is...Do you thin-"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Ino jumped, quickly remembering Sasuke pulling out his phone earlier. "Your phone! We can call the police! If we call them, we could wait it out in here and while they're on their way over here."

Sasuke quickly pulled out his phone, flipping it open and dialing 911. "I can't believe none of us thought of this before..." His heart began to thump in his chest, hoping he'd have a strong enough service to get through. He nearly screamed when he heard the phone ring . "Holy shit, it's working!"

"911 What's you emergency?" A female voice responded.

Sasuke suddenly fell into a panic, shaking his head to regain himself. They were really about to get out of here. Ino pushed his shoulder to get him to start talking. He twitched. "Ugh, right, w-we're locked inside a mansion a-and the're people chasing us...trying to kill us..." The other line was silent, a slight chuckling in the background. Sasuke scrunched his eyebrows. "H-hello?"

"Alright, sure kid. Who exactly is-" The cop broke off into laughs. Sasuke listened confused. "Look, we know this is a joke, we just got a call a few moments from someone that said you'd be calling. "

"What- No! This isn't a joke! Please, we're really trapped! Someone was already killed! They took out her spine and-"

"Pulled out her eyes, right? We already got the phone call from your neighbor about this."

"Neighbor? Look! We're not joking!! Please!!" Sasuke begged into the phone, trying to get through to the cop.

Again, the cop just laughed at him. "What? You really think we're going to send our cops down there just because of a joke? You realize what you're doing right?"

"YES!! I'M CALLING 911 BECAUSE WE'RE BEING CHASED BY THREE KILLERS!!"

The cop was silent for a moment. She let out a sigh. "Kid, seriously, drop the act, I'm no-"

"I'M NOT JOKING!! PLEASE!! JUST SEND SOMEONE!!ANYONE!!" Sasuke yelled into the phone. Naruto and Ino stared at him, growing impatient. "Please...I already had to watch too many people die, I can't watch anymore..."

Again, the cop remained silent. "If I hadn't of gotten that phone call earlier, I probably would've believed you..."

Sasuke stared down at the ground, wondering who would've called the cops and told them about this. "W-who told you? Who called and said it?"

"So, you're admitting it now?"

"No! It could be them! They might've called ahead so that you wouldn't come...So they could kill us..." Sasuke said almost in a mummble.

The cop let out a stressful sigh. "Alright, fine kid. I'll send one of our men over there. What's your location?"

Sasuke's heart jumped. He looked around, realzing he didn't know their exact location. "I-it's the abandoned mansion, outside the city. T-the one with all of the plants around it..."

The cop groaned. "Now what in the hell are a group of kids doing inside that old mansion? That's nearly an hour away by car!"

"I-it was for a project...We got locked in and it turned out that there were people in here..."

"Alright, whatever, I'll send the men, they'll be there in maybe an hour."

"Wh- an hour? No, we need them now! We could be dead by then!!"

"Kid, You think I'm suppose to have them speed down the freeway when this could just turn out to be a prank-"

"It's not a prank! Please!-" Sasuke cut off hearing a dead tone. He sighed and then turned to the group. Their faces were stern and waiting. Sasuke opened his mouth. "T-they're gonna send someone..." Ino's face immdiately brightened. She laughed a second and turned to Shikamaru and Naruto.

"We're getting out of here! We're going home!!" Ino cheered. Naruto couldn't help but smile with the news. Shikamaru on the other hand, looked uncomfortable. He tried his best to cover it up by putting on a fake smile. Sasuke stared down at his cell phone before returning it back into his pocket.

"They're not in a hurry though...."

Ino's face dropped. "Wh-what? What do mean they're not in a hurry?"

"They thought it was a prank...Someone called and told them that they'd be getting a call about this and becuase of that they didn't believe half of the stuff I told them..." Sasuke ran a hand through his bangs. "Something tells me they won't be coming at all..."

Ino looked down. "Don't say that...they said that they were sending someone, right?" Ino bit her lip when Sasuke's doubtful eyes connected with hers. "We just...have to wait..."

Shikamaru scratched his head. "Well, if Sasuke's right, and they don't come, it isn't going to do us any good if we just sit here. Maybe we should still find a way out, and if they do come, well, double for us."

Ino opened her mouth and then shut it. Naruto looked over at Sasuke, finding his attention on the ground, then locked eyes with Shikamaru. "Alright. We'll go back out there, but we've got to be really careful, we can't let ourselves die if someone is on there way."

Shikamaru looked to the rest of the group for reassurance. Sasuke nodded in agreement. Ino sighed. "I guess we don't really have a choice..." Shikamaru looked down.

"Okay...Let's go."

Naruto kept his flashlight dimmed, his head turning around frequently, swearing he felt some kind of presence behind them. He looked forward, seeing Sasuke just as paranoid as he looked back and foruth constantly. Ino was in front of Sasuke, Shikamaru leading the group. They were making there way down a less stable staircase, staring carefully down the hallway that would meet them at the bottom of the stairs. Shikamaru took a cautious step down onto the third floor. He flashed the light towards the black hallway, moving forward slowly. The group slowly moved down the hall, looking around them consistently. There were two doors along the hallway, Shikamaru looking back at the group before putting his hand on the knob and twisting it open. He let the door creak open with a light push and then brought light into the room. He looked around, seeing that the door was a theatre. Naruto was the last one to step inside, the door slamming shut on its own with a strong gust of wind. All heads went back to the door. Naruto swallowed a lump before reaching out to the door and checking to see if it had locked on them. He turned back to the group after twisting the knob. "It's still open."

Ino let out a sigh. "That's good..."

A small jingle noise rang in the large theatre. Shikamaru turned back to the rows of chairs that were visible. He waited a still moment, listening for another noise. Then the jingle sounded again, in more of a rattle. "What is that...?"

Sasuke listened closely to the noise. "It...sounds like wind chimes..." Naruto flashed his light up ward, finding large wind chimes hanging from the ceiling. Sasuke looked up to see them. "Yup, wind chimes..."

"Wait a minute, wind chimes? " Naruto started. "If there's wind in here, than that means there's got to be an exit! The wind would be coming from some kind of draft, from the outside."

Ino looked back. "That's right..." She turned to Shikamaru, waiting for him to lead the way. Shikamaru smiled and then began to head down the large aisle towards the front stage. They were about a quarter of the way down when a string from a piano was struck. The entire group jumped, flashing the light to the front of the stage. The stage was too far away for the light to reach. Shikamaru looked down at the camera he had in his hands and wondered if he should try to use the night vision on it. He decided not to, afraid the red blinking light might give them away as well. Shikamaru turned his head back to the group, pretty much asking if they should keep going. He didn't find any kind of answer from anyone and took a step forward. After a moment of silence, a melancholy melody from the piano echoed througout the room. Everyone froze, eyes locked on the darkness that sent the music there way. Shikamaru and Naruto quickly clicked off their flashlights, so they didn't reveal themselves to whomever. The piano played a slow tune, a faint humming coming from the front. Naruto began to turn around, only to feel Sasuke grab his sleeve. He craned his neck back to him, and found Sasuke looking at him tense and quiet.

Shikamaru turned to the group and let out a long breath. He began to talk, keeping his voice barely loud enough for them to hear. "Listen, there's no way that whoever it is could've heard us. If we keep quiet, we may be able to sneak past them."

Ino shook her head. "No, we can't risk that. We don't even know if there is a way to get out down there."

Shikamaru looked back at Naruto and Sasuke as if to ask their opinion. Naruto would've much rathered gone back, but it's not like turning around and looking somewhere else would garuntee them an exit. This could be the only way they might have at escaping. Sasuke seemed to be thinking the same thing. They both looked at him and nodded forward. Ino stared at them, her eyes wide, before she spun around to Shikamaru. "We can't go down there!" She said in a whisper. "Can't we just try to wait? See if maybe they'd leave or something?"

He stared at her for a moment. "Ino, we can't just wait everything out, you said that yourself just a few minutes ago. If we really think about it, what can they do to all four of us at once? If anything, they're trying to seperate us, then take us down one by one. If we stick together, we can get through this."

Ino stared at him, unstable with the decision, but knew she'd have to go either way. She sighed, signaling that she had given up on the short argument. Shikamaru stared a second longer and then turned forward. As his foot landed forward with the step, fire burning candles flickered on suddenly all over the room, revealing both the group and the blonde sitting at the piano on the front stage. The piano was faced towards them, but the female sitting behind the keys hadn't looked up, or stopped playing. All eyes focused on the blonde, in a sudden trance at the way the candle light illuminated her tan skin. Her fingers glided effortlessly across the keys, while she hummed along to the tune. Naruto assumed her to be Temari. Without turning away from the black piano, she began to sing, her voice matching the sound of the strings.

_"Hello, I am the lie, Living for you so you can hide..._" Temari held the note, letting it fade into a whisper. "_Don't cry..."_ Temari then went into a long piano solo, humming along with it. Shikamaru snapped out of his odd trance and turned to everyone else.

"Guys, We've got to get out of here before she does som-" With a sudden jolt, the floor beneath them suddenly began to move. Shikamaru grabbed onto Ino's shoulders to keep from falling. The floor then began to spin, taking Naruto and Sasuke one way, and Ino and Shikamaru another. Ino held tightly onto Shikamaru's arms, tears rolling down her face as she attempted to prepare herself for whatever was coming. Shikamaru looked around them to see where it was they were being taken. His eyes scanned the surrounding area until they fell on a spining fan that was almost double their size, laying lower than the ground, making it a death pit. "Oh shit..." He mummbled. Ino looked up at him and then followed his gaze towards the fan and almost screamed. Shikamaru grabbed her arm and pulled her with him as they ran against the spinning floor. If anything, they were just staying in place. "We need to jump over!" Shikamaru yelled, hearing the spinning of the fan grow louder. Ino nodded and the two of them jumped over onto the next one above that Naruto and Sasuke had been on. Now they were being taken the opposite way, a fan ready to greet them as well. Shikamaru pushed Ino in the opposite direction and they began to run before they jumped onto the next moving floor piece. He took a quick look to search for Naruto and Sasuke. Ino tried to regain her balance from the jump, grabbing onto Shikamaru's shoulder before she nearly tripped. Shikamaru quickly turned around and saved her from falling, Ino landing against his chest. She looked up at him and her heart skipped a beat with the way the candle light illuminated his face. There was an odd silence between the two before the noise of the other fan hummed in their ears. Both of them looked at the fan and then went for the jump. The two of them stummbled with the moving ground, but quickly regained their balance. Shikamaru looked forward at the spining floors ahead of them. The entire place was sloped, and the jumps would soon be wearing them out.

Ino glanced backwards, towards the front stage and saw that there was a drop from the spinning floors to the stage. She didn't even want to know what was down there. "HEY!! INO!! SHIKAMARU!!! OVER HERE!!!" Naruto's voice yelled out to them. Their heads snapped forward to find the two standing in the door way, safe and sound. Ino sighed, thankful they had made it, but at the same time feeling more threatened. Shikamaru grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward.

"Come on, we've got to hurry and get up there." Ino nodded and they made another jump forward. Temari hadn't turned her head once to see how anyone was doing. She stroked each key, while her foot repeatedly stepped down on something that kept the floor spining. She looked over at them for the first time and smiled when her eyes landed on Ino. Temari turned back to her piano and continued with her song. "_Suddenly, I know I'm not sleeping, Hello, I'm still here"_ Her pitch went higher as her foot pressed onto the peddle faster. "_All that's left of yesterday..."_

Ino stared forward at the next jump, her legs tired and wanting rest. The floor was whipping by her and making her head spin. Shikamaru had already jumped and was waiting for Ino to as well. He ran towards her, opposite of the fan and reached out his arm. "C'mon Ino!" She looked up at him, and then grabbed his arm and pushed herself up to the next floor board. She looked forward quickly to see that they were only three more away. Sasuke and Naruto watched them impatiently encouraging them. She drew in a breath and jumped up onto the next one, along with Shikamaru. He nearly tripped over his foot, but caught his balance, jumping ahead of Ino and up next to Sasuke, where he was safe. He turned back, expecting Ino to have been right behind him, but found her back three floors. "INO!! COME ON!! YOU'RE ALMOST THERE!!!" Ino nodded, trying to tell herself that and jumped onto the next one. She stumbled slightly, reminding herself that if she lost her balance, she'd have no one to grab onto to regain it. Two more away, all she had to do was jump twice more. She prepared herself for the next jump, Temari watching with a smile on her face.

Just before Ino went to jump, Temari immdiately let go of the peddle she was currently stepping on and moved it to the next one over, removing the last two floor boards Ino had to jump.

Ino caught herself before she would've lept into the black hole that was now in front of her. She looked up at the group and felt tears stroll down her eyes. Something was about to happen, and it was going to happen to her. She was about to die. Shikamaru reached out his arm, barely out of her reach. "Ino, come on, I'll catch you!" Sasuke grabbed onto him to support his balance while he leaned further. She stared up at him and cried harder hearing a loud banging from behind her. She stared up at Shikamaru, and smiled slightly. This was it for her, she had been too slow and they captured her. Ino's eyes locked with Shikamaru's, her voice cracking from fear. "I don't want to die."

Shikamaru had managed to lenghten his reach with Sasuke's support. If Ino could grab onto at least his forearm, she'd live. "INO!!QUIT STANDING THERE!!" Ino swallowed a lump in her throat before reaching forward for his hand. Naruto was ready to help grab her when Shikamaru got a good enough grasp on her.

Temari watched as the steps that had been spining were now falling on a slope one by one. If Ino didn't make it in time, she'd slid straight down into the spining fan in front of her. Her eyes looked upward at Shikamaru, drawing his attention with her gaze. He looked at her with a look that begged her not to do it. Temari smiled, before stepping on the peddle one last time, to tilt the floor board Ino was on.

Ino grabbed ahold of Shikamaru's forearm, trying to get her feet to push off of the floor, but her body wouldn't trust it. Naruto saw the panic in her face and reached forward, attempting to grab onto her waist to try and pull her forward himself. Sasuke released one arm from Shikamaru and grabbed hold of Naruto's belt, keeping him from falling into the blackness below. "Shikamaru, try to switch me, my arms aren't long enough for this!" Shikamaru looked at him, and slowly brought Ino's arm towards him, Sasuke being carefull where to put his strength while the two managed to switch positions. Shikamaru grabbed onto Ino's waist and began to pull her forward, only to feel her body slid right through his grasp. The floor had slipped from underneath her and caused her body to slid downward, while pulling onto Naruto's arm. Sasuke, oblivous to this before the floor gave out, didn't have the strength to keep all three of them from falling. Naruto and Ino had fallen quickly from his grasp, both of them sliding towards the spining fan that would soon devour them. Ino screamed loudly, terrified of how painful this would turn out to be. Her eyes stared at the floor boards that were sending her on her way to quick death. Naruto stared blankly at his surroundings, his mind not quite taking in what just happened. Shikamaru stared at the two and felt his heart stop slightly.

Naruto began to slid into a panic as the fan came into view. He quickly spun his body onto his back and grabbed hold of Ino. Ino screamed the entire way down, but stopped when Naruto grabbed onto her. She had taken him down with her, instead of letting herself go, letting it just be her, she took Naruto with her. Naruto looked at the fan and just before they had dropped into it, he planted his feet against the metal around the fan, then pressed his back against the wall from the drop, stopping both of them from being chopped into bits. Ino's feet would've been gone if she didn't pull them up when she was sliding down. She held on tightly to Naruto's shoulders, panicing now that she was inches from death, and feet away from her killer. Ino cried harder than she could ever remember. "Please don't let me die." She begged looking up at Naruto. Her mind instantly thought back to her father, and how he was always there to take the fear away from her. She wished more than ever that he was here with her now, even if he told her lies, it'd let her take death on calmly. Ino snapped her eyes shut, trying to pretend this wasn't happening. Naruto couldn't answer her, his mind at a loss for a way to get out of this. Temari continued to play the piano as she watched Naruto struggle to keep the two alive. The fan sent a strong gust of wind up at them, making it hard for Naruto to hold onto Ino. He felt his grip slipping, but wouldn't allow himself to move an inch, afraid it'd send both of them to their deaths.

Temari moved her foot onto the last peddle, hoping this would send at least the girl into the fan. She began to play the final part to her song, humming with it, while calmly watching.

Naruto felt the pressure on his back fall backwards, the wall he pressed against dropping so suddenly that it cause his grip on Ino to loosen completely. He reached forward to try and catch her from going into the fan, but was too late. In a matter of seconds, Ino's body had been flicked everywhere, her blood splattering all over Naruto, soaking him in crimson. The fan continued spining as if nothing had been near it in ages. His mouth hung open slightly, his thoughts etching the terrible sight in his mind forever. He couldn't even think right when the floor gave out completely, sending him straight below into the darkness.

His heart pounded in his ears, anticapting the landing to be sharp and painful, but when his body hit ground, it was too soon to kill him, and not nearly as painful as he was thinking. In fact, it felt like he had just fallen from a tree. He layed there, barely hearing Sasuke's voice screaming his name. His back was aching, the warm blood on his skin begining to itch, but he didn't want to move. He had somewhat hoped that he would just die here, wondering what he could've possibly had to look forward to if he did survive. It's not like he had parents that would be thankful he made it out, or anykind of future to look forward to, he didn't have a girlfriend whose fragile appearnce would keep him from letting it get hurt by his death, he didn't even have any kind of animal at home that would starve if he didn't make it through. What would be the point if he survived? Just the satisfaction of knowing he made it out alive when death was grabbing onto his throat? He didn't find any kind of hope of getting out of this place, and for the most part, he didn't have a motive to. Why he didn't just let him and Ino fall straight into the fan, he thought was just reaction, but he really just didn't want to die. He didn't want to find out what happens when death gets a good grip on you. Yet, he almost wished he would've let them fall. Now he was seperated from the rest of the group and left probably to starve in some basement like place.

Naruto blinked, wondering if Sasuke would mention him falling if the cops came. Or would he just be forgotten? He closed his eyes and for some reason, Sasuke was the only thing that went through his mind. The small connection they had but never showed had somehow made Naruto feel like they had been friends years before any of this had happened. Sasuke had always been an ass or a jerk to anyone about the smallest things, but after all of this, he was finally to act himself, and why he hid that side from the world, Naruto wondered if he'd ever find out.

He layed on the ground for a good ten minutes before deciding to get up. For some reason, his thoughts about Sasuke had given him slight motivation. He wanted to live long enough to know that he was okay, be there if Sasuke made it out. Live long enough so he could ask Sasuke why he hid himself.

Naruto was surprised to find that he still had his backpack on his shoulders. He flipped it infront of him and opened it, reminding him what he had brought. He pulled out a bottle of water and twisted the cap off, bringing it to his lips and drinking most of it. His eyes looked at his blood covered hands, then took the bottle of water and poured it over himself, removing little of the blood from his body. Naruto looked again into his backpack and saw the silk sleeping bag he had. He sighed, throwing the empty bottle off to the side and then pulled out his flashlight, clicking it on and looking around, trying to find a place to start. Where ever he was didn't have much of anything down here at all. It was just a wide open area with a lot of cardboard boxes stacked up in places. Naruto began to walk forward, silence ringing in his ears. Shikamaru had said earlier that they were just trying to seperate everyone, and now Naruto was alone. Temari had to know that Naruto was down here, so it was only a matter of time before he'd run into-

Naruto stopped when he heard movement coming ahead of him. Not this soon, no way had she come for him this quickly. He flashed the light in front of him, looking for some kind of body. He almost turned his head in another direction, but his eyes caught onto a silouhette behind some boxes. He figured it to be pointless to turn off his flashlight, for whoever it was had to know where Naruto was standing due to the light. Instead, he moved his flashlight towards the silouhette, knowing he was a safe distance away to bolt it if it was one of the three creeps.

The person that was sitting there looked towards the light, blinding their vision. They held their hand up to the light to protect their eyes. They could barely make out Naruto's figure, their eyes widening when they recognized the blonde. "Naruto!?"

Naruto stared at the silouhette, thinking that his ears had tricked him. He stepped closer, and nearly dropped the flashlight when he saw who it was. "KIBA!?!"


	4. Chapter 4

Sasuke sat against the wall, catching his breath with the brunette standing next to him. No way did that just happen, now way did they just loose both Ino and Naruto. Sasuke stood up and looked over at Shikamaru. Shikamaru couldn't stop thinking about what he saw, how Ino's body had met with the spining blades of that fan. He probably wouldn't of cared much if it had been Naruto or Sasuke, but it just had to be Ino. Ino had to be the one that fell into the fan. "Hey..." He merely glance over at Sasuke. Sasuke watched him, feeling the same pain that he was going through. "...We should probably get going..." He mummbled.

Shikamaru nodded and then clicked on his flashlight and began to head down the hallway. Neither of them really felt that they had any kind of motivation to get out of here. Sasuke wondered how that cop would feel when she found out that he wasn't lying. How if she would've just sent the cops there when she should've, she could've saved all of their lives. Sasuke rubbed his eye. It couldn't have been any later than 7:30, but he felt like he had been awake for over a day. He sighed, staring blankly forward as Shikamaru lead them down the dark hallway and into what seemed like a large storage room. Sasuke decided to leave the door open, wondering if they'd be lucky enough to be able to come back to it. His mind was thinking constantly about Naruto. He saw how Naruto's body had just fell downward, probably where Ino would've fell if she had jumped when Temari had dropped the floor boards. He wondered if Naruto had fell to his death, or was simply wandering around by himself. Sasuke was so lost in thought he didn't even notice Shikamaru set the video recorder down and pick up a crobar that was laying in one of the boxes. Sasuke's eyes caught the metal in the brunette's hands and then looked up at him. "What're you doing?" He asked.

"I can't believe you're really alive....I thought some one had murdered you or something..." Naruto mummbled after re-uniting with his lost friend.

"Nope. Well, not yet at least. " Kiba said with a smile on his face. "I've been here the entire time..."

Naruto was thankful to see his friend again, but worried at the same time. "So...you've been here for over two months, and haven't been able to get out?"

Kiba blinked. "Two months? It's really been that long?" Naruto nodded. "I though it had only been a few weeks..."

Naruto sighed. "So, we're stuck here, aren't we?"

Kiba laughed. "No, not at all. I choose to stay here. I could leave whenever I wanted if I felt like it."

Naruto scrunched his eyebrows. "What? What're you still doing here then?"

Kiba turned his head looking down at the ground. "I don't wanna leave him..." He mummbled. Naruto cocked his head slightly.

"Leave who?" Just as he asked that, he felt a lingering presence behind him. Kiba looked up over Naruto and smiled. Naruto felt a chill of fear run down his spine, as he turned his head to see who it was. He was half- surprised when his eyes took in the image of the red head they had previously run into.

Gaara was holding his bear in one arm, while holding food in the other. He looked down at Naruto and then stepped over to Kiba. Kiba smiled at the red head and Naruto instantly knew what he had been talking about. He watched as Gaara bent down and held the food up to Kiba's lips. He raised an eyebrow when Gaara fed the food to Kiba. After Kiba had swallowed, he looked over at Naruto and saw the confusion on his face. He chuckled. "Gaara won't let me do it myself. I can't figure out why, I think he just likes feeding me...?"

Naruto nodded slightly, turning to Gaara. So Gaara was actually a good guy? He wasn't actually trying to hurt any of them, was he? "What's up with his lips?" Kiba shrugged.

"I don't really know...I think to keep him from talking to whoever ends up stuck at this house. I wish I could take them out though..." Naruto thought a minute.

"Were you trying to help us earlier?" He asked to Gaara. Gaara looked over at him, and then back at Kiba. After a minute, he nodded. Naruto hesitated before asking his next question. "Do you think you can take me to where ever Shikamaru and Sasuke are?" Both Kiba and Gaara turned their heads to Naruto, having a look of worry on their faces.

Kiba swallowed a lump. "I-it's not _just_ Sasuke and Shikamaru, is it?"

Naruto nodded, very confused by their reaction. "Yeah, it is...Why? Will Temari and Kankuro go after them now?"

"No," Kiba said shaking his head. "Shikamaru will..."

"What?" Naruto asked, confused.

Gaara blinked. Kiba opened his mouth, then shut it. "Look, the only reason I came here in the first place was because of him. He was the one that lead me here. Shikamaru's on Temari and Kankuro's side."

Naruto's eyes widened, recalling the video footage he saw of Shikamaru talking to a shadow. He had been talking to whomever was up there, Sakura was right when she said she saw someone. Everything suddenly clicked in Naruto's mind. It was Shikamaru's idea to come here in the first place. He was the one that brought up the idea, and the one that shut the front door, locking everyone in. The entire time they thought Shikamaru had been leading the way to what may have been an exit, was really him leading them into their next death trap. He was the one that had made all of the arrangements with the city to stay there, when really he probably didn't even get anything done. He was probably the one that had called the cops ahead of time and forewarned the emergency call. Kankuro had tossed the keys over to Shikamaru because he knew that Shikamaru was on his side. The little joke he made when they first got here wasn't a joke at all. _'Over sixteen hours in an abandoned mansion. Will everyone be able to survive? Stay tuned and see!' _ Naruto felt sickened, as his mind put all of the pieces together. Shikamaru was the one that had always been encouraging everyone that they'd make it out alright, when really he was just trying to lure them out for either Temari or Kankuro to finish them off. Shikamaru had tried to point it all at Gaara, Temari and Kankuro, to take all of the suspicion away from him. He always seemed oddly calmed and was always the first one to check out a room before giving the signal for the rest of them to enter. Shikamaru was the one that had lead the four of them further into the theatre room, trying to tell us that Temari didn't know we were there, when in reality, she was just waiting for Shikamaru to bring them to her.

Naruto shook his head, anger, guilt, stupidity, and regret all runing through his veins. He looked back at the two. "Please, we have to find them. We've got to save Sasuke. "

Sasuke backed up slightly, worried at the look Shikamaru had in his eyes. "H-hey," Shikamaru stared down at the crobar in his hands and ignored Sasuke's comments.

"You know," Shikamaru flipped the metal over in his hands. "You always made my life hell, back in school..." Sasuke stared at him confused. "I really hated you because of that..."

"A-are you...?" Sasuke trailed off, his mind not quite understanding what he was doing.

"And you almost gave me away back there. Before Kankuro came..." Sasuke's face went pale when he finally understood what he was saying. He began to back away from him, while Shikamaru calmly examined the thick metal. "I was kinda hoping that I'd see the way Temari or Kankuro dealt with you, but if the cops are really coming, I can't let you live much longer..." He turned to face Sasuke, but instead of swinging at him, he swung the metal upward, towards a large chandlier that hung just above Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes followed the metal, his body frozen when he saw the sharp glass come falling towards him. He closed his eyes, throwing his hands above his head to try and protect himself, but then felt his body get shoved over.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself laying on the ground, off to the side with Naruto ontop of him. Sasuke was shocked and happy to find that the blonde was still alive. "N-Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, but they didn't have time to chat, Naruto quickly pulled the two up off of the ground and turned to face Shikamaru. Kiba and Gaara stood next to them, waiting for Shikamau to do something. Shikamaru stared at the four of them, mainly at Gaara and Kiba. He turned his head slightly. "You..." He was staring at Gaara. Gaara looked frightened, but not willing to give up. "You realize what you've done, don't you?" Gaara swallowed a lump in his throat.

Sasuke stared at the two and then turned to Naruto for an explantion. Naruto looked over at him and then grabbed his shoulder and pointed to a room next to them. They were starting to turn around, but were cut off by another voice. "Ah-ah-ah! Where do you think you two are going?"

They turned their heads to see that both Kankuro and Temari had joined them. Sasuke let out a deep breath. He looked around the room. There were Three people trying to kill them and one he wasn't sure about, another one he had never seen before, and then him and Naruto.

This was going to get tense.

Kankuro looked over at Gaara, Gaara feeling the death stare and sliping into his own panic. "Mmm!Mhmm!-" He began trying to talk through his sewn lips.

"Save it." Kankuro sighed out. He looked over at Kiba and then back at Gaara. "I see you've been having some fun."

Gaara looked over at Kiba and then back to Kankuro. Kankuro saw the fear in his brothers eyes and smirked. He turned to Shikamaru and Temari and then tilted his head over at Kiba. "Kill him." Gaara's eyes widened, stepping in front of the brunette to try and keep them from doing anything to his only enjoyable connection. Temari smirked at him and then began to walk towards the two, Shikamaru following her.

Gaara squeezed tightly onto his teddy bear, knowing they weren't going to let him get in the way. His heart began to race, wishing that he could've been a little bit stronger. Temari looked over at one of the boxes and dug her hand into it, pulling out a small barbor knife. She unfolded it and then ran her tounge along the side of the blade, staring at Kiba from the corner of her eye.

Kiba didn't look intimidated by them at all. He was a rather big guy, having a good amount of muscle formed along his biceps and stomach. His tall appearance made him look thinner than the muslce wanted to show, but for the most part, he learned long ago how to fight against weapons, even in a situation like this. He looked down at Gaara, apreaciating his love for him, but pushed him aside and out of harms way. Gaara looked up at him, wanting to argue against him and try to fight but he saw that it could only make things worse.

"How cute..." Temari said mockingly. "Too bad it won't matter, we'll just take him down next." Gaara's eye widened when he heard her say that. He never once considered the fact that his own family would want to go after him. Kiba rolled his eyes at her.

"You guys should know by now that I'm not afraid of you. I've been waiting a long time to actually fight back, but never did because Gaara didn't want me to. " Kiba was careful to keep an eye on all three of them, especially Kankuro, who was watching with a mischevious smile spread across his face. Temari seemed to ignore him, taking the small knife and throwing it towards him.

Kiba didn't even try to dodge it. The knife went straight into his stomach, Kiba not even blinking. Without even looking down, he grabbed the handle of the knife and yanked it out, blood spilling out of his stomach. Gaara stared at it, worried that Kiba was going to show off more than he had. Shikamaru seemed a little threatened by Kiba's strength, but still held a firm grip on his weapon. Kiba smiled at the two and then threw the knife aside, it landing over by Naruto's feet. Temari stared at him a minute and then looked back at Kankuro. Kankuro smirked at her. "What? Can't two of you guys handle one person?" Kiba looked over at Naruto and Sasuke while Temari and Kankuro were focused on their conversation. Sasuke was staring at Kiba's stomach in a mezmorized manner. Naruto already knew about Kiba's strong body, them frequently wrestling in the times they had hung out, Naruto never once wining against him, even though he tried desperately to get Kiba into the sleeper hold, only to be dissapointed. Their eyes connected, Kiba then eyed Gaara and directed his gaze to the room behind them. Naruto sighed, but then nodded.

Sasuke looked over at Naruto and then bit his lip, thinking. Naruto saw the calmed look he had. "What?"

Sasuke looked back to the group. "I was just thinking..." Naruto turned as well. "Why exactly are we afraid of them?" Naruto turned back to Sasuke. He turned to face Naruto and locked eyes with him. "It's not like they're monsters. They're human, just like us." Naruto thought about it a minute and then looked over at Shikamaru. Shikamaru had played the role of a normal teen, tricking everyone, but proving Sasuke's thoughts. He hummed before letting his gaze fall on Gaara.

Shikamaru had caught Kiba off guard and then swung his weapon at him, slamming it into his skull. Kiba stumbled, feeling the bar connect with him again before he was able to recover. Shikamaru went to swing for a third time but Kiba grabbed hold of the weapon before he got the chance. Kiba easily pulled the weapon out of Shikamaru's hands and threw it behind him. Shikamaru stared at him for a second and then backed up a bit. With out a weapon he didn't stand a chance against him. Blood ran down Kiba's face, from the fresh wound Shikamaru had given him, yet he acted as if he hadn't even been hit.

It was tearing Gaara up inside, having to watch Kiba bleed like that. He felt a hand lightly grab his shoulder. His head snapping back to find Naruto grabbing him. He was holding the barbor knife in his hands. Gaara's eyes widened, immdiately thinking that Naruto was going to bring him harm. "I'm cutting that thread, relax." Gaara's shoulder relaxed slightly, his eyes locked with the blue ones staring back at him. Naruto carefully slid the blade underneath the thread and cut it open. The first thing Gaara did was lick his lips. He could still feel the thread stuck in his skin, but being able to part his lips felt both painful and relieving. He looked up at Naruto, not able to say anything, afraid that he'd find he had lost his voice. Naruto let out a deep breath and whispered. "Listen, Kiba wants me to take us into that room over there, but we all know that he'd die, fighting the three of them. If the three of us join him, then it's four to three, we'll have the advantage." Naruto waited a moment. "Question is...What do you want to do?"

Gaara thought a minute before he parted his lips again and summoned his voice. "Kiba..." Naruto was almost shocked at how deep the kids voice was. If it had been Gaara acting like Kankuro, he would've been scared alot more than he had been. He never would've expected such a deep and scratchy voice to come out of his mouth. "I want to protect Kiba..." Gaara decided, bending down to pick up a long chain.

Naruto looked back at Sasuke and found him ready to go. He gave him a cocky smirk and then looked around for something to fight with. A thick pipe was laying on the ground behind him. Sasuke quickly swooped it up and turned to Naruto. Naruto looked down at the knife in his hands and then drew in a deep breath. "Here we go." He said, then the three of them stepped out and in front of their opponents.

Naruto's blue eyes met that of the blonde in front of him. He saw that she had pulled out more matching knives and was smiling at him. His heart raced a bit, never once inflicting severe pain on another person. Gaara looked back at Kiba, then turned to face Shikamaru. Shikamaru looked uncomfortable with where the entire thing was going. He focused solely on Gaara, keeping an eye out for Kiba behind him. Gaara took in a deep breath before spining the chain in circles next to his hip. Shikamaru swallowed down his uneasiness and gripped onto his crobar. Sasuke had managed to sneak around to Kankuro's back side, thinking he was oblivious to him and immdiately went in for the attack. Kankuro's hand shot up and smacked against the thick poll Sasuke had swung at him. He chuckled, before turning his head. "Well, that was stupid." Sasuke stared at him, starting to second guess his decision. He tried to pull the pole out of Kankuro's grip but he couldn't. Kankuro twisited it slightly before pushing it back into Sasuke. Sasuke barely moved out of the way, able to keep one hand on the weapon before Kankuro pulled it back, bringing Sasuke to him. Their faces were inches apart from eachother, Sasuke's heart thudding loudly in his chest. Kankuro smirked, staring deeply into Sasuke's dark eyes. "I've got the perfect puppet for your eyes..." He mummbled. Sasuke swallowed thickly before getting shoved backwards, falling to the ground and loosing his weapon. He looked up to find his enemy swing the pole backwards, ready to blast him. Sasuke closed his eyes, anticipating the pain, but nothing came. He opened them slowly to find that Kiba had grapsed it from behind Kankuro. Kiba then kicked in Kankuro's knees, causing him to fall downward then pulled the weapon from his hands and slammed it against his skull. Kankuro fell over slightly, but easily recovered. He stood up, trying to focus himself and looked back at Kiba. He smiled, runing his tounge along his lips, catching the blood that was seeping from the fresh wound. "Now it's getting interesting..." Sasuke had stumbled back to his feet and recieved the weapon from Kiba. He looked up at him confused.

Kiba smirked. "You'll defiantely need that more than I will." Sasuke nodded and the two of them turned back to Kankuro and took their steps towards him. Sasuke was smarter about his attack this time, slamming the pole into the boxes above him, causing them to crash down on him and then slammed the pole into Kankuro's side just as he stummbled back up. Instead of a scream or wince of pain that Sasuke had expected, Kankuro just laughed. Sasuke ignored it and swung the weapon into him for a second time, causing him to laugh again. He stepped back a bit, looking over to Kiba for an explanation. Kiba shrugged, then cautiously stepped over to Kankuro. He looked up at Kiba, smiling. Kiba scrunched his eyebrows, Kankuro then stepped on something that was on the ground, shooting it upward at him. Kiba felt something wrap around his throat before a stinging pain was shot through his body. He immdiately dropped to his knees grabbing at the device, trying to tear it off. "AGHHH!!AGHH-" Kiba cut off, choking. He rolled over onto his back out of pain and then scratched at the device. Kankuro continued to laugh while Kiba suffered.

"Oh, This is too great!!" He laughed holding onto a remote, while cranking up the voltage on the shock collar. Sasuke quickly swung the pole into his hands and then slammed it against his jaw when the remote fell. Kankuro stummbled a bit before being blasted again by the weapon. He couldn't help but laugh at the attacks. It was the first time in a long time that anyone had tried to fight back against them. Everyone they had killed had only screamed for someone else to help them or begged for mercy. When he heard Sasuke telling his pity story, he never expected him to gather up enough will power to stand and fight, let alone survive this far. Every time Sasuke blasted him with the pole, he thought about how many groups they had done this to and how none of them had ever thought about teaming up on the three of them.

Sasuke slammed the pole into Kankuro's head, watching as his blood spewed from his mouth as he fell backwards. He was almost positive that he had knocked him out. He stared at his motionless body before Kiba's screams tore into his thoughts. Sasuke quickly scurried to the remote, shutting off the voltage. Kiba collapsed on the ground, drooling from the collar. It felt almost as if the voltage was still runing through his body. Sasuke bent down next to Kiba and removed the collar, throwing it off to the side. How Kankuro had managed to pull off something like that, Sasuke didn't quite understand.

Naruto stared forward at Temari, unsure how he woud do this. Temari snickered. "Tell me kid, have you ever killed someone before?" Naruto remained quiet. Temari smiled, knowing the answer. "Never even stabbed someone? Hah." She ran the blade seductively along her cheek. "How do you plan on killing someone who has?" Naruto cringed, knowing that she was right. He drew in a deep breath and then looked down at the small weapon he had. He sighed and then threw it aside. Temari watched and then smiled, before throwing one of them at him. Naruto easily dodged it, since the aim was off slightly, but that didn't mean he could do much to her. She threw another one, aiming it at his shoulder. Naruto moved out of the way and then stood back in place. He looked past Temari to see how Sasuke was doing, but only darkness met his eyes. He then thought of something, feeling on his back for his bag. He looked at Temari, knowing she was anticpating his move. He smiled slightly, thinking out his plan before he ran off into the dark. Temari rolled her eyes. "Now I have to chase you? What kind of man are you?"

She walked forward, hearing Naruto's movement and sighed. It wasn't any fun if he couldn't even cover up his trail. She turned one of the corners and stepped forward, her feet slipping against a silky material. Naruto quickly dashed out of his spot and caught Temari by her throat, pulling her into the sleeper hold. Temari blinked surprised by simple trap she fell for. She slowly started to feel her coinsciousness slipping from her. She blinked, trying to pull her mind back, then felt the last knife she had in her hand. With the last bit of her energy fadeing, she stabbed the knife into Naruto's side. Naruto winced, letting out a small cry, but didn't allow himself to let go of her neck. Temari pulled the knife out and slammed it back into his stomach, feeling his grip losen. If she could manage to stab him once more, she might be able to get out of it. Naruto grinded his teeth together at the pain, then realized that even if he did pull off the sleeper hold on her, she'd still wake up again. Naruto closed his eyes before deciding on what he was about to do. He drew in a deep breath and then adjusted his arms slightly, grabbing onto Temari's head, and quickly snapped her neck. Naruto fringed when he heard the snap along with the knife clanking against the floor. He took a quick look at Temari and then turned around and headed back out to the main scene, guilt and regret tumbling down on him. He had just killed someone....

Shikamaru had quickly recovered the crobar Kiba threw aside. He looked up at Gaara and saw him ready to strike. Gaara swung the chain forward at Shikamaru, Shikamaru holding the crobar up to block it. The chain wrapped around the thick metal, Shikamaru holding onto it tightly as Gaara pulled the chain back. Gaara then whipped the chain downwards to distract the brunette, then snapped it upward, the end of it barley connecting with his skin. Shikamaru winced, stepping back slightly. He swung the chain at him again, Shikamaru reaching his hand outward and letting the chain wrap around his arm. He pulled at it, yanking part of it out of Gaara's grasp. Gaara stumbled forward abit, but regained his balance and kept his grip on the chain. He pulled at it, but then quickly realized that Shikamaru wasn't trying to take it from him. He felt a sharp pain slam against the side of his skull, knocking him over slightly. Gaara was greeted immdiately with a wound, the blood that leaked down his face blinding him from seeing the next painful blow. Gaara released his grip on the chain and dropped to one knee. He saw Shikamaru approaching him and then ran forward, tackling him to the ground. Shikamaru fell backwards, his head smacking aginst the wooden floor. He looked up at the red head and saw him pull his arm back about to punch him but a loud scream distracted him.

Gaara's head snapped upward. "Kiba!?" Shikamaru took the advantage, erecting the weapon forward and slaming the crobar into Gaara's stomach, impaleing him. Gaara's eyes widened at the sharp pain, arching forward before falling onto his side. He held his hand at the wound in his stomach, feeling like he would soon throw up. His mind blurred, the blood flowing out of the wound from both ends. He wrapped his hand around the crobar to try and pull it out, but stopped because of the pain. Shikamaru watched him a moment, before crawling backwards.

Naruto then imerged from the darkness and saw Gaara laying on the ground. His eyes widened before his head snapped over to Shikamaru. He was looking around, his eyes catching onto something next to him. Naruto looked over to where he was staring and saw the last thing he wanted to see.

A gas tank. Shikamaru stood up and rushed over to it, hands snapping onto the handle. Naruto went to run after him, but the sharp pain in his stomach kept him from runing. He tried to get over there as fast as he could, but Shikamaru had already done what he wanted to do. He smashed it open, gas leaking out of it and into the air. Naruto looked over at Shikamaru, eyes wide. It's not like he had anything to ignite it with, it wasn't like Shikamaru smo-

Naruto's heart sank as he recalled the fact that Shikamaru did in fact smoke, seeing him do it outside of school in the morning when he would walk to school. He didn't waste time to watch him blow the place up, turning around and going towards the group. He saw where Gaara was and then looked over for Sasuke and Kiba. Sasuke imerged from the darkness with Kiba hanging onto his shoulder for support. "G-guys! Quick! We've got to get out of here before the place blows! There's gas everywhere!" Sasuke's eyes widened, rushing over to Naruto as fast as he could with Kiba around him.

"How the hell do we do that!?"

Kiba winced, pushing himself off of Sasuke's shoulder. "Gaara should know the way out."

Naruto opened his mouth to say something but was stopped and looked down at Gaara. Kiba stared at him a moment and then followed his gaze. "G-GAARA!!" He yelled when his eyes met the limp body. He stumbled over to him, finding him barely coinscious. "Gaara..."

Gaara looked up at Kiba and smiled. "I-I'm glad you're okay..."

"I'm okay? Gaara, you're gonna bleed to death..."

"As long as you're here, I'm okay with that." Gaara mummbled, smiling. "I'm so happy that I can fi..finally talk to you..." Gaara mummbled, staring at Kiba with such a wonder in his eyes.

Kiba stared at him and then turned to Sasuke and Naruto, then back to Gaara. "...Gaara, the place is about to explode. I won't leave you, I promise, but Naruto and Sasuke need to get out. Please, you've got to know a way out..."

Gaara was quiet a minute, then dug into his pocket and pulled out a key. He held it up to Kiba. "It's... to the front door. It'll unlock, no matter...what lock it is..." Gaara winced before continuing. "The stairs are down the hall...It'll take them to the...hallway in the ...enterance hall..." Kiba nodded and then turned to Naruto and Sasuke.

"We got it..." Sasuke mummbled, taking the key. "...We could bring him with us, the two of you guys could escape too."

Kiba shook his head. "You've already got to help Naruto, we'd only drag you down, besides, I've got to make sure that the last rat doesn't escape right?" Sasuke opened his mouth but shut it with a sad smile.

"If that's what you want..." He mummbled.

Kiba nodded. "Yeah, you guys should hurry, Shikamaru's probably waiting for the gas to travel before he lights it." Both of them nodded, Sasuke wrapping Naruto's arm around his shoulders. Kiba put a hand up to his forehead and saluted them off. "See yah."

Naruto nodded, not wanting to leave him there, but knowing that any further argument would kill them all. "Bye..." Naruto mummbled before Sasuke tugged him towards the door. He looked back and saw Kiba lean down and kiss Gaara, his lips forming the words that crushed Naruto's heart to leave behind. Kiba layed his body down on the floor and then stood up to go for Shikamaru. Gaara's arm moved slightly after him, as if not wanting him to leave, before it dropped onto the floor. Naruto then closed his eyes, blocking the sad ending out of his mind and focused on getting out of there. Sasuke carried him as fast as he could to the end of the hallway. He looked down at Naruto's bloody appearence and then turned back to the stairs that were ahead of them.

When Sasuke got towards the first floor of the stairs, he heard a loud explosion come from the top floor. His heart speed up, panicing that maybe they might not make it, but they were too close not to. He shook the fear out of his mind and focused on getting both of them out of there safely. Naruto was holding onto the wounds that Temari had given him. He felt the warm blood seeping between his fingers and knew that if he didn't stop it soon, it could kill him. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the pain.

They made it down into the enterance hall, hearing the fire flickering above them. Parts of the first floor had already caught fire, the enterance hall luckily being the only thing that hadn't been. Sasuke moved over to the front door and pulled out the master key. His heart thudded, fearing that it might not work. He stuck the key into the lock and turned it, his heart skipping a beat when he heard the 'click'. He left the key in the lock and then pushed the door open.

Outside...

They had made it outside...

Sasuke smiled, carrying Naruto out and away from the mansion. He didn't stop walking until he knew he was a safe distance away from it. After he made it to the other side of the street, he removed Naruto's bag and layed him down on the grass, Naruto wincing slightly. Sasuke saw the wound and quickly looked in his bag for something that could maybe stop the bleeding. He pulled out Naruto's spare shirt and pressed it against the wound, putting all the pressure he could on it. He looked up at the burning building and sighed.

His eyes were torn away from it when a wailing noise came from down the street. Sasuke looked over to see a cop car pull up to the burning mansion. Two cops stepped out of the vehicle, staring up at the burning building and figuring it unlikely for anyone to have lived through it. Sasuke then waved his free hand up in the air. "HEY!!!OVER HERE!!!" He called from across the street. The cops both turned, the heavier one went towards the car to call for the fire department, while the skinnier one rushed over to the two.

"Holy shit- HEY GRAB THE FIRST AID KIT!!!" The cop yelled. He turned back to the two and ran his hand through his hair. "You were the ones that called, weren't you?"

Sasuke forgot he had even done that. Naruto stared upward at the building, realizing just how lucky the two of them had been to make it out alive. He then pictured Kiba and Gaara, burning in there and snapped his eyes shut, trying not to allow himself to cry. Sasuke looked down at him, then back to the cop. "Yeah...That was us...Although there were four of us then..."

The cop sighed, while the heavier one jogged over to them. He saw the state Naruto was in and shook his head_. "Alright I'm gonna need you to sit up so we can stop this bleeding..."_

"Then you guys came..." Naruto finished. The two cops both sighed and then turned and left, having to report it back to the other officers. Naruto sighed, staring at the ground. A shadow emerged from beside him. He turned his head, seeing Sasuke standing next to him watching the burning house. It was quiet for a moment, Naruto remembering the Sasuke he had entered with and now watching the one he survived with. Sasuke let out a sigh, his face illuminated by the burning embers.

"Naruto..." Naruto blinked, looking up at him. "There's...something I need to tell you..." Naruto remained quiet, wondering what it could've been. "I-...What Shikamaru was talking about when we first got here...When we were about to go inside..." He looked down at the ground, blushing. Naruto scrunched his eyebrows, recalling what Shikamaru had said then. "W-well...I-I'm..." He took in a deep breath to calm his nerves. "I'm gay." Naruto blinked, not sure what to say. Sasuke gay? The guy that had girls hanging all over him everyday was gay? _The_ Sasuke Uchiha...Gay? He wasn't quite sure how to respond. Partly because it was so surprising, and partly because it seemed so random. Sasuke didn't look at Naruto to see his reaction. His face was bright enough already, he didn't want to be even more embarassed now that he finally told someone. Shikamaru had known about how Sasuke had skipped gym class to be with a guy in the locker rooms. He didn't think anyone was there, but if Shikamaru hadn't brought that to his attention, he wondered how he'd be right now. He looked back up at the flames. "..I.. I promised myself when we were in there...That if I made it out alive, I wouldn't hide myself anymore. I'd learn how to show myself to people and accept it...So...That's what I'm doing." He said, turning to Naruto and smiling. Naruto smiled back, glad that he would be able to keep this Sasuke rather than having to deal with the old one. Sasuke's smile faded slightly. "...Although...I feel kind of scared to now..." He laughed slightly. "I mean, what will people think when I go into school on Monday like this?"

"That 'Damn, getting chased by a bunch of mad teens really changes a person.'" Naruto joked. Sasuke looked over at him and smiled uneasily. "Besides, who cares what they think? I mean, if you're that scared..." Naruto bit his lip before saying the next part. "I wouldn't mind helping you."

Sasuke smiled. "Thanks..." He mummbled, slightly relieved. He sat down next to Naruto and leaned back on his arms, looking up at the building as it was slowly starting to be put out. He thought back to Kiba and how he had helped him with Kankuro when they didn't even know eachother, then stayed there and died next to Gaara because he wanted it that way. Sasuke felt a tear roll down his cheek, knowing that he wasn't the one that deserved to have lived. "I'm sorry..."

Naruto looked over at him confused. "Hm?"

"For what I said about Kiba...I'm sorry...I really shouldn't have said that..."

Naruto smiled. "S'okay. I'm sure he wouldn't have been offended by it anyways..."

Sasuke half smiled. He wished he could've been able to say that for himself...


	5. Epilouge

"N-Naruto, I can't do this!" Sasuke paniced.

"Sasuke, relax. If people liked you as much as they say they do, they wouldn't care." Naruto said, trying to comfort him.

"I-I know but- people have already said stuff before! Just because I've been nicer! Imagine what they'll say-"

"Who cares what they say? You're never going to talk to them anyways." Naruto said. It had been almost two months since the incident, and since then, Sasuke and Naruto hadn't been apart from eachother. After the first month, they had even moved in together, using the excuse of loneliness for anyone that cared to ask. Naruto had been spending most of his time helping Sasuke try and be himself more. There had been few times when Sasuke would resort back to his old self, but with some slight convincing, Naruto always managed to bring him back. Though Naruto told himself this was all to help Sasuke, he couldn't deny what was there. He had never once found any guy attractive, but ever since seeing how Kiba and Gaara were, he couldn't help but want what they had. Spending all of his time with Sasuke had struck the attraction and now it was only growing.

Sasuke took in a deep breath then looked at Naruto, clearly still nervous. They were standing outside the school doors, about ready to walk in for the begining of the school day. It was the middle of autumn, a strong wind blowing in the air. Sasuke's bangs were blown across his face, his cheeks red from the cold. His eyes stared at the blondes, seeming to beg for some kind of relief of his aniexty. Naruto smiled and held out his hand. "Come on. This is what you wanted."

Sasuke exhaled a long breath and then slid his hand in with Naruto's. They laced their fingers together and then turned and stepped through the front doors. Sasuke's heart was pounding wildly in his chest, his face hiding a small blush as he began to feel the stares of people passing by. He couldn't believe he was doing this. Everyone was going to know now, know that he liked guys over girls. His eyes looked around at some of the faces people were making, most of them in shock. He could hear girls mummbling, asking if it really was Sasuke or someone else. The guys they passed just seemed confused by it. Sasuke saw some familiar faces, his eyes darting to the floor when he recognized them. He didn't even want to know what their facial reaction looked like.

Naruto felt Sasuke's palm begin to sweat against his. Sasuke still hadn't stopped shaking since they stepped in, but he couldn't expect him to adjust so easily. It'd have to take a couple of times before he could finally forget about what everyone else was thinking. Naruto ran his thumb along Sasuke's, getting him to relax slightly. They defiantely had something no one else did. The two of them had survived together, creating an unbreakable bond between eachother. Sasuke looked over at him and smiled nervously when their eyes locked.

As long as he had Naruto, he wouldn't need to worry about what anyone else thought.


End file.
